For Better or For Worse
by Katie Luthor
Summary: When Conner finds a new place to call home, peer pressure and loneliness push him to agree to the unthinkable—an arranged marriage. Can M'gann and the Team stop his doomed I do's in time?
1. A Typical Day

**Hello, party people, and welcome to my first fanfiction story!**

"At last! At long, long last!", a voice called out over the usually sleepy town of Happy Harbor, California. An evil sorcerer floated high into the air, laughing wickedly as he shot bolts of red lightning upon innocent bystanders from above. His Familiar, a black cat, hung around his neck like a scarf, watching with wicked delight as his master brought chaos down on the town square.

The sorcerer threw his head back and released the loudest, most malicious cackle ever heard as people screamed in terror, tripping over themselves to get away. "Nothing can stop me now!", he shrieked. "NOTHING!"

"Think again, Geezer!"

The sorcerer turned around, horror taking over hid expression when he saw just who had come to spoil his fun. "No! No! Not you!" Before he could say or do anything else, he was kicked across the face by a black boot belonging to none other than Nightwing, former apprentice of Batman, now a hero in his own right.

Following his lead were six other heroes from the Team, the team of young proteges and apprentices of the beloved and acclaimed heroes of the Justice League. Superboy, proud cloned son of the world famous Superman; Miss Martian, beloved niece of the alien Martian Manhunter; Robin, Batman's newest protégé; Blue Beetle, successor of the late Ted Kord; Beast Boy, Miss M's excited animal shapeshifting adoptive brother; and Bumblebee, who could shrink down to the size of a housefly.

Superboy jumped into the air, his superstrength giving him the ability to reach great heights, but the sorcerer murmured a spell, and a glowing red force field formed around him, causing Superboy to bounce off and hit the ground. "Is that the best you've got?"

Miss Martian tried to use her telekinesis to break the force field, while Bumblebee tried to zap it open, but nothing they did had any effect. The sorcerer cackled as the Team's best efforts were wasted. "I've got you puny heroes now!", he boasted in their faces. He raised his hands over his head as he prepared to strike the final blow. "And now, you lil' pests! YOU! SHALL! DI—"

All of the sudden, the glow from his hand disappeared. He looked at his palm in shock, shaking it to try and get the glow back. "What the heck happened?"

"Oops." The sorcerer looked behind him. Standing three feet away were a boy and a girl, each around twelve or thirteen years old. The girl had blond hair in long soft curls, blue eyes, and her lips were in the shape if an O. She wore a sleeveless pink sundress with a ruffled hem that ended at her knees, a bleached denim cardigan jacket, and high-heeled wedge sandals with pink straps. In her hand was one half of the spellbook that the sorcerer used to reek havoc.

The boy had chestnut brown hair in a neat crewcut, darker blue eyes, and a nervous frown on his face. He wore a light blue shirt with black lines arranged into plaid, nice regular blue jeans, and brown boots just like the ones that Superboy was wearing. In his hand was the other half of the spellbook, it's spine now separated, rendering the book worthless.

Both pre-teens looked up at the sorcerer with forced, guilty smiles on their faces and let out nervous laughs. "Oh…were we not supposed to touch this?"

The sorcerer passed out.

 **I do not own YJ or DC. I just want to write a cute Supermartian fanfic.**


	2. Loneliness

Mal's laughter roared throughout the Cave. "You guys tore his spellbook in half? That's hilarious!"

Chris shook his head firmly. "It was an accident, I swear!" Mal stopped laughing, smiling as he put his hand on Chris's shoulder. "Aw, I know that, buddy. "Don't sweat it. You and Katie really helped us out today."

He turned to Karen, who had taken off her mask and smiling at him. "C'mere, beautiful.", he said, putting his arms around her and pulling her against him. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Chris and Katie looked at each other with weirded out expressions on their faces before walking off to their big brother's side.

Conner caught a glance of M'gann walking into La'gaan's open arms. "Welcome back, Angelfish.", he said, pulling her in for a deep kiss.

Conner winced a little and stormed away, leaving behind two confused kids. "I'm gonna hit the showers.", he called out over his shoulder, not looking back once.

Chris and Katie looked over at M'gann and La'gaan making out heavily, not seeming to see or care about the looks of disgust and distain they were getting from the other Team members.

Chris shook his head in shame for them. "Why don't they ever get a room?", he asked. "Why is it that they always make out whenever Conner is around? Its like they're _trying_ to get on his nerves!"

Katie bit her lip and nodded. Besides Chris, Conner was her favorite person in the family. After all, he had agreed to take her in after her father, the diabolical Lex Luthor, was placed in Belle Reve Penitentiary to pay for his crimes. Katie, with her optimistic views and bubbly personality, was nothing like her cruel, scheming father, and she was thankful to be around people who didn't judge her based on who her parents were.

She looked down the hall along which Conner had stormed away, sighed as she twirled a lock of blonde hair around her finger. "I just hope KonKon's okay.", she murmured.

* * *

Conner sat on his bed, peeling his shirt off. He held it out in front of him, staring at the S symbol in the front. In his mind's eye, he replayed his memories from the first day he met M'gann. Glancing at the floor with a shy smile, she had shifted her costume to match his before looking up at him and saying, "I like your T-shirt.". It had been the first time he'd ever really smiled. M'gann had that ability—to make even the grouchiest and grumpiest of people happy, even if it was only for a spilt second. It was one of the many things he had loved about her—one of the many things he _still_ loved about her.

Conner stopped smiling and let out a heavy sigh. It had been six months since he and M'gann had broken up. She had stopped abusing her powers and ripping into the minds of others, not since the incident with Kaldur, but she _was_ still dating that jerkface La'gaan. What was worse, ever since he had been rescued from Black Manta's captivity, he rarely ever left her side, as if he were afraid to be away from her again, even if just for a minute. Conner wanted to talk to her, but La'gaan never gave him a chance.

Conner missed M'gann. He missed her smile, he missed her laugh, he missed everything about her. He wanted so badly to talk to her, to tell her that he missed her, that he regretted leaving her, that he wanted her back. But whenever by some miracle La'gaan wasn't with them, she said, "Not now." NoW that she had La'gaan back from Black Manta, she didn't seem to want anything more to do with Conner, and he couldn't find it in his heart to move on with anyone else.

It wasn't just M'gann. Lately it seemed as if everyone he knew had suddenly lost interest in him. Karen and Mal were spending all of their free time together, to make up for her being too busy for him before. Garfield was spending more time with the other rookie team members, going out to eat with them or going over to their houses and homes to hang out with them. When Nightwing wasn't working, he was spending his time with Barbara or Zatanna. Kaldur was evil, and Wally and Artemis barely came to visit since quitting hero life.

Conner was grateful that he had Chris and Katie around to keep him company, and Superman dropped by every once in a while to pay them a visit, but it just wasn't the same. He looked at an old photograph of the Team that had been taken in their first year. Everyone was on the couch, laughing and eating popcorn, some throwing it around at each other. M'gann was giggling and clinging onto Superboy, who had his arm around her protectively while smiling at her.

The present Conner fought the urge to cry. This picture reminded him of good. Times that had made him happy to be out of Cadmus. Times that had made his life feel complete. Times that he was certain would never come again.

 **I made it take place in early season two, because it makes the plot more interesting. Conner feels underappreciated by the Team , and unwanted by M'gann. She doesn't realize just how important he is to her until it looks like she's lost him forever.**


	3. A Great Discovery

Conner came into the TV room around seven. Chris and Katie were watching reruns of _Full House_ while they ate their TV dinners. Neither Chris nor Conner could make anything other than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Katie couldn't even make _that_ without burning something. Conner looked around and sighed.

Mal and Karen were on a date, and so were M'gann and La'gaan. Garfield was sleeping over at Jaime's with Bart and Tim. Another night with nothing for Conner to do except stare at the television set. He thanked his lucky stars that Chris and Katie set aside their Sunday nights to spend time with him. Katie spent the rest of her evenings going to parties or on dates, and Chris himself went to the occasional shindig when he didn't have a night of studying planned.

Conner took his TV dinner and peeled back the wrapping as he watched the screen. Steve had just pulled aside DJ, who had gotten upset when she saw Steve's ex-girlfriend Rachel kiss him. "It wasn't anything like kissing you.", he told her. "I didn't even know what love was until I met you." He smiled at her. "I love you." She smiled back. "I love you, too."

At the same moment, they both dove in, and their lips met in a sweet kiss. Conner plopped onto the couch as Katie swooned. "Awwww! This is my favorite part in the whole series! So romantic!"

"Yeah,", Conner muttered. "Too bad its not real." "Well, of course its not real.", Chris said. "They're actors."

"No, I don't mean that.", Conner explained. "I mean _that_." He pointed to the TV screen, where Steve and DJ were holding each other in their arms. "All that mushy gushy lovey-dovey stuff they show. Its in all the movies and all the TV shows."

Katie looked at him. "Are you saying love isn't real?", she exclaimed, obviously upset.

Conner turned to her sharply. "No! No, no, no, I'm not saying that! I'm saying the way they portray love in the media isn't real."

Katie furrowed her delicate eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, things like that don't happen in real life.", Conner elaborated. "Like in all those romantic comedies, when the hero realizes that he loves the girl who's getting married to some other guy that same day. In the movie, he runs all the way to the church, arrives just before the girl can say "I do.", and proclaims his undying love for her. Then she says she feels the same way, and they run off into the sunset together. Have you ever seen that happen to an actual person?"

He waited for an answer, but he received none. "Of course not.", he continued. "Because it's all a lie. Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life. True love is just a gimmick that movie producers use to sell at the box office."

Katie looked at Chris, worried looks on both their faces. It broke their hearts to think that Conner actually felt that way. "KonKon…"

All of the sudden, an alarm sounded throughout the Cave. Conner Chris and Katie ran into the main room, their dinner trays forgotten. A screen popped up with Batman's face on it. "Where is the rest of the Team?" "They left already!", Chris explained. "They all had plans!"

Batman sighed. "Than I guess you three will have to do. We've received a distress signal from a distant planet in a faraway galaxy. Superman has agreed to check it out, and he's requested back-up. Come to the Watchtower at once to board with him. Batman out." The screen disappeared.

* * *

"C'mon in, kids! Move, move, move!" Superman was rushing the Superkids to get into the spaceship. Chris wore a one-piece solid black suit with red lines stemming from the red S on his chest, red pads covering his shoulders, looking like Superboy from Tron.

Katie wore the same outfit that their cousin Kara wore for crime-fighting, except that, instead of an electric blue color, Katie's costume was hot pink, her belt and the tops of her matching pink knee-high boots were shining silver. They quickly strapped themselves in as the countdown began.

* * *

They came to the planet from where the distress signal had been heard. It was a large planet, larger than Earth, but nit by much. Most of it was a deep golden yellow, no doubt the land part, and the rest was the ocean, which was the most beautiful shade of deep sea green. Rather than a yellow sun, like Earth, this planet revolved around a red sun.

The first thing that the Super family did when they landed on this planet's surface was look at their surroundings. They found themselves face to face with a bunch of strange men, who were hunched over some sort of device that had transmitted the signal to the Watchtower, wearing welder's masks and long white labcoats covered in grease and oil stains. Right behind them was a great steel gate, forming into swirls and curves to make a lovely design. In the middle was a sign. A sign in strange lettering. Superman stared at it. "No machinery or technology allwed beyond this point.", he read aloud.

"How do you know that?", Chris asked. "The sign…its in Kryptonian!", Superman revealed.

He turned to the men. "Alright— _what_ is going on here?! Who are you?! Where are we?!"

One of the men stood up. "I know who _you_ are.", he said in a deep, somehow familiar voice. "You are Kal-El, only son of Jor-El and his wife, Lara-Zor-El. When you were only a few weeks old, your father discovered that, due to the radiation the people of Krypton had planted within their planet to power their machines, Krypton would soon erupt from within, and be destroyed. To save you from certain doom, your parents put you in a spaceship and set it's coordinates for the planet Earth, as far away from their home planet as possible. You were rocketed away in your pod just days before the final blow."

Superman glared at this mystery man. "How do you know all of that?"

The man removed his mask. His hair was as white as freshly fallen winter snow, neatly combed, with a small spit curl brushing his forehead, similar to Superman's. His beard was the same shade of snowy white, covering his chin and forming a mustache above his upper lip, with a band of silver circling his forehead.

His eyes, in contrast, were as green as the first few sprigs of of grass that grew in the springtime, and they seemed both stern and loving at the same time. But it was the features of his face that made Clark gasp. The nose, the cheeks, the chin—there was no mistaking it. He looked just like Clark. The man looked him right in the eye.

"Because, my son… _I_ am the one who placed you inside that pod."

 **Before I go, reviews are welcome, flames and haters are not.**


	4. Home

Clark was speechless. "F-Father?! I-Is that really you?! Y-Y-You're alive!"

Jor-El nodded. "Yes, Kal, my son…I am." He took off his labcoat, revealing his clothing. He wore a long sleeved shirt of dark navy blue, the cuffs and the collar, a giant scoop neckline, lined with solid silver, as go,d and silver were so common on this planet, they were practically worthless. His belt was made of softened, flexible silver as well, and it lined the end of his long pants, which were made of the same dark blue material. On his feet were plain black leather shoes that covered his toes, but showed the top of his feet.

"But-But how is this even possible?", Clark stammered out in excitement.

Jor held his head high. "After I sent you to Earth, my League of Scientists contacted me. They had heard of my plan to save you and were inspired by it. They built rocketships, one for each family on Krypton, big enough to suit their size. On Krypton's last day, as many Kryptonians as we could find were guided into the rockets, including me and your mother, and we all left Krypton just as it exploded."

"After weeks floating in space, we found a new planet, similar to the one we lost, with no people inhabitants, and we made it our new Krypton. Once settled, we the League of Scientists unanimously decided that from now on, our society would have nothing more to do with machinery or technology. We abandoned our excessive ways and reverted to the customs of our ancestors. We do everything by hand, go to Temple every Sacday, and arrange marriages so that children will be born and the population will grow."

"We are happy in our new lives. The only thing that was missing was _you_ , Kal-El. For the past twenty-five years, I have been working to bring you back home, even if just for a short while. And now…"

His eyes watered. He threw his arms around Superman and hugged him tight. Clark hugged him back. "Father…" "Son…"

The kids stood there in shock. This man was Jor-El? And the Kryptonians were not a lost race, as had been believed to be for so many years? Just then, Jor noticed them standing behind Clark. "And who are these young ones?", he asked.

Clark smiled. "These are my children, Conner, Chris and Katie." Jor smiled broadly. " _Zoompta_!", he exclaimed. "I have grandchildren! I'm old!" He walked towards them. "Do they have Kryptonian names?" "Yes.", Clark said. "Conner's is Kon-El, Chris goes by Lord-El, and Katie is Kata-Kal-El."

Jor beamed brighter than the moon. "Come, my grandchildren.", he said as the gates opened behind him. "And I will show you your home."

* * *

Jor led his family through the village. All around, men were carrying heavy things, ladies were gossiping, and children were running around. The men and boys were all wearing the same things Jor was wearing, only in different colors. The women all wore similar clothing, only in a feminine form. They had on long sleeved dresses with the hem ending just below their knees, with the same shiny silver lining on their cuffs, hem and V-neck neckline. Their heads were adorned with the same silver band, and they wore shoes similar to the men's.

"After Lara and I got settled into our new home,", Jor started explaining. "I took a job as the town blacksmith. Lara stayed behind to care for our house and home, and also to raise the children. After sending Kal-El away, she and I had two beautiful daughters, Morta and Ana."

At last, they arrived at the house. It was a quaint little cottage, with thick wooden walls and a strong steel roof. Jor knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal a middle-aged woman. Her outfit was the prettiest lavender hue, and she had long, wavy auburn hair that fell all the way down to her waist. She had long, lovely eyelashes, that complimented her ice blue eyes, just like Clark and Conner's.

When she saw who was with her husband, her hands flew to her mouth, trying to hold back the flow of tears that was threatening to burst forth. Lara ran over and threw her arms around her long-lost son.

"Kal-El! My baby! Its been so long!" She clung onto him as if she'd never let go. She saw the children with him. "More Els! This is a proud day for the family!"

She stood by her husband, tears of joy spilling down her face. Jor put his arms around his wife, holding her close as they looked at the lost members of their clan that had been found after so many years, his face shining brighter than the sun itself.

"Welcome home."


	5. A Tempting Offer

M'gann rang the bell. "Breakfast time! Come 'n' get it while its hot!"

At once, the crowd of team members flooded into the kitchen. While most of them didn't live at the Cave, it was a Team tradition that they spend every Monday morning there, eating the all-out breakfast buffet that Miss Martian whipped up to prepare themselves for which would, no doubt, be a long and busy week. However, halfway through their meal, Tim noticed something off about the current seating arrangement.

"Hey! Where's Superboy?"

At the sound of his words, every head at the table turned to where said powerhouse usually sat for their breakfast bonanzas. Sure enough, his chair was empty. M'gann suddenly felt her heart sink. She knew things were still tense between her and Conner, but he'd never missed her breakfasts before. She looked around and saw that Chris and Katie's regular seats were empty as well.

"Huh…that's weird.", Garfield mumbled, his mouth full of soy bacon. "Supey never misses our weekly morning pig-outs."

Just then, Barbara noticed that Richard wasn't looking her in the eye, or anyone else for that matter. He just sat there, staring at his plate, moving his scrambled eggs around with a fork. "Dick…what's going on?"

Richard swallowed the lump in his throat. He stood up out of his chair. "Team, I've got some good news and bad news.", he announced. "The _good_ news, is that last night, Superman, Conner, Chris and Katie discovered Kryptonians living on another planet. They escaped their original planet and are flourishing on a new one."

Everyone started talking at once, amazed and joyous. Barbara jumped to her feet and hugged Dick tightly. "Rich, that's amazing!", she exclaimed. Suddenly, she stopped smiling and pulled away to look at him curiously. "Wait…what's the _bad_ news?"

Dick stared down at his feet. "The bad news is…well, Conner and the rest of the Kents are taking a bit of a vacation on the new Krypton. Y'know, get to see their new family. So we won't see Superboy for a while."

"That doesn't sound so bad.", Barbara said. "How long will he be gone?"

Dick raised his coffee mug to his mouth and said something, his words mumbled by the blockage. "What?" He did the same thing again. "Cith wicks." "Come again?" He sighed as he brought his mug down. "Six weeks."

SMASH! A dozen heads looked over the table, where M'gann had been bringing in a bowl of scrambled eggs. Now the bowl was in pieces on the floor, pieces of yellow chunks scattered at her feet. She stood there, frozen to her spot, her mouth hanging agape. She didn't move, just stood there, like someone had pressed "pause". The only indication that she was still there was her auburn eyes, which were growing wider and wider. She felt as if time itself had stopped around her.

Finally, the "play" button was pressed, and her form came back to life. "Six weeks?! That's like, a month and a half! We can't go that long without Superboy!" "We or you?", Cassie whispered.

Richard held his hands out in front of him. "M'gann! This is the chance of a lifetime for Conner!", he told her. "It'd be selfish to hold him back just because we want him here. Its just for a few weeks. Before you know it, it'll be over and he'll be back here with us."

He sat back down in his seat. Garfield extended the dish of cereal towards his sister, who was still standing. "Want some, Sis?" She looked at the offered dish, and slowly shook her head. "No thanks, Garfield. I-I've lost my appetite." She hurried out of the kitchen and towards her bedroom. She had some thinking to do.

* * *

And so, time went on. The days soon turned into weeks, and the weeks seemed to fly by for the Supers on Krypton. Clark went through the village and were met with cheers. They all knew how he rescued the innocent from the corrupt on Earth, and were very proud of him. Lois was just happy to see Clark happy. Chris loved all the new sports and techniques that could been found there. Katie had all the pre-teen boys falling over her and competing for their attention. Jonathan and Martha Kent had come along, too, and were very interested in learning how to grow Kryptonian fruits and vegetables. Jor and Lara were so grateful to them for taking care of Kal-El in their absence, they declared Ma and Pa honorary Kryptonians.

But no one was happier than Conner. As the weeks went by, he grew to love Krypton and everything about it, even though he had no powers under it's red sun. He loved the two extra smaller moons on the left side of the bigger one. He loved how copper and bronze were so rare, they were worth more than gold and silver on Earth. He loved how the days were always longer and the nights were always shorter. Most of all, he loved his new, much larger family, and all of the new friends he'd made.

He loved the daily routine. Each morning, he'd wake up at the crack of dawn, dress himself, and meet the family in the kitchen for a hearty breakfast cooked by Lara and the girls, before going off with Jor to his shop. There, he taught his grandson the trade, making horseshoes and weapons for soldiers. He'd often send Kon out to deliver finished projects to customers and collect their payments.

After the day was done, Jor and Kon would return home at sunset for a great big sit-down family dinner, talking and laughing about the day they had had. Then they gathered around the fireplace and said their prayers, giving thanks to the gods before heading off to bed, prepared to repeat everything in the morning.

One day, they were at one of their family dinners. The entire table was abuzz with commotion as Jor wove a story about the really hairy warrior that came into the blacksmith shop. "And he smelled of poo and blood!" Everyone laughed aloud. Conner smiled brightly. He hadn't felt so happy in years.

"I love it here!", he exclaimed. "The people, the architecture, the food, I even love the bad parts!"

Jor stole a glance at his wife, who nodded slightly with a knowing gleam in her eye. Jor looked at their grandson. "Interesting you should say that, Kon.", he said slowly. "Because, your grandmother and I have been talking amongst ourselves, and we agreed…if you wish to, you could all live with us here."

The noisy table suddenly fell silent. Kal was stunned. "Live here? Father, I…are you sure?" Jor nodded. "I am certain. Of course, you'd have to get jobs until you can afford to get your own houses, but we will be happy to support you until then. Besides, I need a nice young man to take over the shop after I'm gone. I'd love the business to stay in the family."

Kal shook his head sadly. "That is very kind of you Father, but I must decline. The Justice League needs me, as do the people of Earth." He placed his hand over that of his own wife's. "And besides, Lois has a life back at Metropolis. I could never uproot her from her home."

"Well, we'll take you up on that offer.", Jonathan said. "Martha and I lost our farm back on Smallville. This is the chance we've been hoping for! We can start over on this planet! Its so dependent on agriculture, its perfect!" Martha beamed, nodding her head happily.

"What about you, children?", Lara asked. "Would you like to stay?" Chris and Katie looked over at their big brother for an answer. They loved Krypton, too, but live here permanently? They had lives back on Earth. Surely, Conner wouldn't agree to it.

Conner blinked twice and chewed on his lower lip. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his mouth and said softly. "I'll think about it."


	6. A Difficult Decision

Conner, or Kon-El, as he had been called mostly, sat down on his bed, covered in white sheets and stuffed with cotton and soft hay. He replayed the events of dinner in his mind. He could hardly believe that his grandfather had asked him and the rest of his family to stay on Krypton. Basically, he was willing to let them abandon their lives on Earth to make a new home for themselves here.

Still, Conner had to admit, it was a tempting offer. For him at least. He did love the experience he'd had on Krypton,and his new friends and family in the village, but…while they did ignore him, Conner still loved and missed his friends back on Earth. Could he still leave them behind? Although he was certain they wouldn't really care either way, _he_ certainly would.

Conner sighed. He was torn between his happiness in his new life on Krypton, and his loyalty to his life-long friends on Earth. Happiness or loyalty…which should he choose? If he chose happiness, he'd be free from tears or self-pity, allowing himself a life surrounded by those who adored him, but he'd also be abandoning those who had shown him what freedom feels like in the first place, which would probably lead to feelings of guilt.

If he chose loyalty, he'd be proving his devotion to the one who had taught him the joys of life, who had taught him to be _human_ , but at the same time, he'd probably be dooming himself to a life alone, forgotten by the people who who were once so attached to him, now too busy with lives of their own to pay him any mind, leaving him to wonder about Krypton and what might have been.

Jor knocked on the bedroom door before entering. Conner didn't seem to notice, staring blankly at the wall as Jor sat down beside him. "Something on your mind?" Conner jerked himself out of his thoughts and looked at his new grandfather. "Yes. Your offer."

He sighed deeply. "I would love nothing more than to stay here on Krypton with you and Mama. But if I do, what'll the others say?"

Jor raised an eyebrow. "The others?", he asked. "Do you speak of your teammates back on Earth? But did you not confide in me that they don't seem to care for you? You said that they ignore you and never invite you to spend time with them. If this is true, will they care if you leave them?"

Conner thought over his words. "They might, but…I guess they wouldn't really mind in the long run. Its just…there's someone on Earth. Someone that I miss very much…even though I'm sure she doesn't miss me."

Jor sat up straight. "And what is the name of this lovely young lady who seems to have captured my grandson's heart?", he asked, wide-eyed and curious.

Conner sighed. "Her name is M'gann. M'gann M'orrz. She's from the planet Mars. And she is perfect in every way imaginable."

Jor leaned forward, obviously interested. "Go on."

"She was the first to ever see me as a person.", Conner told him. "Not a clone or a weapon. She daw me for the awkward, temperamental person I was…and she liked me anyway. I'm a better person today, because of her."

"So what happened between the two of you?"

Conner rubbed his neck as he stood on his feet and walked over to the window. "It doesn't matter. She's in love with someone else now. He'a a total jerk, but…he treats her right." He looked up at the stars above, trying not to think of the beautiful alien girl that he loved so dearly.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Now, now, Kon. You must forget about that girl. If she cannot see how wonderful you truly are, that is her loss."

Conner shook his head. "I wish I could believe that, Papa, but I can't seem to move on. Every night, I look up at the stars and wish we were still together. M'gann made me so happy…and now I'm afraid I'll never feel that same happiness again."

Jor stroked the white hairs on his chin. "Well…perhaps there is a young lady here on Krypton who would be more than willing to give you her heart. And who knows? You may be willing to give her yours in return."

Conner scoffed. "Somehow, Papa, I highly doubt that." He tore himself from the window to check on Chris and Katie.

Two seconds later, Lara entered, having heard the two of them talking. "Now, what was that all about?" Jor smiled at her with a mischievous look in his eye, stroking his chin in plotting mode. "No time to explain. Lara, grab your cloak and the portrait of Kon-El. We're going to see Yenta."

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "My casserole!" M'gann found herself flying into the kitchen. Using her telekinesis, she opened the oven and took out her overdone casserole. As she put it on the butcher block, she gave it a look over before groaning and putting her head down on the table.

Garfield came in and saw a bunch of black lumps in a burnt pan. "Another dud?"

M'gann lifted her head up to look at him. "That must be the fiftieth dish I've ruined in this past month.", she cried. "I guess we're having Burger King for dinner…again."

Gar noticed his sister looked close to tears. "Everything alright, Sis?"

M'gann shook her head. "No."

Gar lifted himself onto the kitchen counter. "Wanna talk about it?" M'gann sighed as she levitated herself to sit in the counter next to him. "I guess I haven't really been myself since Conner left. I can't concentrate, I'm not eating much, and I can't sleep at night. Things just haven't been the same since he abandoned us."

Garfield sat up a little bit straighter, his green eyes going wide in shock. "M'gann! How can you say that?!", he exclaimed. "Conner didn't abandon us! He's coming back in a few days! Why are you so worked up about this?!" That's when it hit him. "You still love him."

M'gann looked at her little brother, who was smiling and biting his lip. "You still love Conner! I knew it! I knew it! SUPERMARTIAN FOREVER!" M'gann shushed him as he started leaping around the room and pumping his fists in the air. "Gar, keep it down!"

He turned to face her. "This is perfect! Conner comes home on Monday! When he gets back, you can proclaim your undying love for him and he'll say he feels the same way and you guys are gonna kiss and make up and get back together and—oh, man, its gonna be so AWESOME!"

He ran off, chanting and yelling, leaving M'gann alone to think. She _had_ missed Conner something awful these past six weeks. Every minute she'd spent without seeing his face felt like an eternity to her. But was she really still in love with him? She thought back to all the moments that she'd shared with Conner in the past—meeting him, the incident in the kitchen, their mind-melding experience in Bialya, their first kiss in Belle Reve—each memory gave her butterflies in her stomach thinking about it.

She thought about him coming home, her running into his arms, him saying "I love you" to her—she could already feel his strong yet gentle hands running over skin, and his deep voice, spoken in a lustful yet loving tone, whispering in her ear. Chills went up and down her spine as she was carried away by her fantasies.

At that moment, M'gann made up her mind. When Conner returned, she would tell him that she still loved him, and she wanted him back.

* * *

Jor and Lara sat in front of a desk, Lara holding a medium sized portrait of Conner in her hands. Hanging on the walls around them were the carefully and beautifully painted portraits of all the eligible young men and women in the village. Lovely white curtains draped from every corner of the room, and there wasn't one table that didn't have a vase of gorgeous red flowers on top of it.

After a long time, the bead curtains separating them from a smaller room were pulled apart to unveil an elderly woman with frizzy dark gray hair, spectacles, and many wrinkles on her face.

She sat behind the desk. "I believe I have found it! The right one!" She held up a medium portrait for them to see. Graceful, ladylike, obedient, and I don't need to tell you she's beautiful!"

Lara smiled at the picture before her before turning to her husband. "She's perfect! She reminds me of me when I was young!"

Jor nodded his head. "I agree." He turned to the older woman. "Thank you so much for helping us. Please contact this lovely young lady, and tell her of our request. Inform her to come to the banquet tomorrow." He smiled broadly. "I do believe we have a match."


	7. A Shocking Proposal

Conner was in his bedroom, combing his hair. It had been their last full day on Krypton, and the last day for him to decide if he wanted to stay. To wish them goodbye, Jor-El had planned a grand banquet for them, complete with five different courses, musicians, dancers, and singers from the _etiphi_ , or the opera. He had spared no expense for his new family, and they were grateful to that.

Conner looked at himself in the full-length mirror. This time, his red shirt had no sleeves, and the silver neckline ended just above his chest. Other than that, he was wearing what he usually wore. He let out a heavy sigh. It was his last day, and he stiil couldn't make up his mind about Jor's offer. Should he stay here on Krypton, or go back to Earth? He knew that no matter which he chose, he'd miss whoever was on the other planet.

"Children! Come!", Lara's voice called from down the hall. "Kon! Lord! Kata! We must leave at once! The entire village is waiting for us!"

Conner took one last look at himself in the mirror and let out a final sigh before leaving the room to answer his grandmother's call.

* * *

The banquet was spectacular. Every food that had been introduced to Kryptonian society was laid out on the dinner table, which must have been a mile long. There were steamed sputlanks, fresh-squeezed glutmunks, the biggest piping hot roast potpa ever seen, and, for dessert, freshly baked snotzel buns, with only the sweetest and purest honey drizzled on top. Just looking at such an excellent spread was enough to make one's mouth water.

The entertainment was top of the line as well. In one corner, the most skilled musicians in the village played a song of love and longing. The glipnac flute sounded like a nightingale, twirping in just the right key. The one playing the serendax guitar strummed the strings in perfect harmony. The keyaxi piano was the final touch to the seranading song, each note it played like a soothing lullaby, inviting others to come close and listen.

While the musicians displayed their skills, five lovely ladies added to the enchantment by performing a hypnotizing dance. They wore long, colorful gown, decorated with golden curves, with skirts that swirled around their legs with every movement, with golden brackets on their arms that held up sashes of bright cloth to match the color of their dresses.

Conner sat at the table, with Chris to his left and Katie to his right. While he was enjoying himself, he couldn't quite figure out why Jor and Lara kept looking at the door, as if they were waiting for a certain person to walk through it. From time to time, he saw them talking to an elderly old lady wearing spectacles and a black wool shawl. He had seen her around town, but he had kept forgetting to ask who she was.

All of the sudden, a flugeloggle trumpet sounded to announce the arrival of a new guest. "Presenting, in all her glory, from the House of Zol, the lovely Lora!"

The entire room fell silent, all heads craning their necks to look at the doorway. Someone entered and Conner found himself unable to look away.

She was beautiful. She had skin like porcelain, smooth and pale, without so much as a freckle or a marking to be seen. Her hair was the color of milky brown chocolate, with the light of the moon shining upon her tresses, falling in rippled waves all the way down her back, ending in soft, open curls just above her legs. Her lips were as soft and red as the petals formed on the first roses blooming in June. Her eyes were the most striking shade of green, so green, in fact, that they seemed to glow in the darkness.

Her hands seemed sift and delicate, inviting men to hold them, and her neck was long and elegant like a swan's. She had a nice curvy hourglass figure that would turn Betty Boop green with envy, and long arms and legs that moved in graceful flourishes, and her small feet were just the right size. There was no doubt about it—this girl, Lora-Kad-Zol, was indeed a beauty rare.

So great was her allure, even Conner, who was indifferent about looks, found himself unable to tear his gaze from her. He was brought out of his trance by a jab in the arm by his grandfather, who was smiling with a look in his eye. "She seems lovely. Why don't you go introduce yourself?"

Conner was suspicious, but he got out of his seat to greet Lora anyway.

"Hello,", he said, getting her attention. "I'm Kon-El."

Her already glittering eyes seemed to light up brighter at the mention of his name. "Oh! So you are Jor's grandson!", she said, in a voice so sweet yet so regal, even the gods would have listened. "I was hoping that I would see you tonight! I have heard so much about you! I must say, it was an honor that I was chosen."

Conner tilted his head to the side. "Chosen? For what?"

Lora ignored his statement. "Oh, I just know we'll lead a happy life together. Its fate that the Great Zon brought you here to this planet at this time! I was starting to get worried that I'd never find a husband, but then you came along, and you're perfect!"

Conner reared back. "Husband?!" He looked behind to see Jor coming over. "Papa, what's she talking about? What is going on?"

Jor beamed brighter than all the moons combined as he stood between the two young ones. "Kon, do you remember last night, when you lamented over that lost love of yours?" "What does that gave to do with—"

"Well, you have no need to lament any longer!", Jor exclaimed with joy. "My boy, I have exquisite news for you! A cause for celebration! I am delighted, to inform you that Lora, sweet Lora here…is to be your bride."

Conner suddenly felt as if all the wind had been knocked right out of him. "My…My _what_?!" He looked over back at the table where his family was sitting, have heard everything. Chris had stopped chewing his food midway, and Katie's back had stiffened in an instant. None of them could move as the full force of Jor's words sank in.

Jor didn't seem to notice their horror as he continued. "Yes! Last night, after we spoke, Lara and I payed a visit to Yenta, the matchmaker, who confirmed Lora was the perfect match for you. We spoke with her parents, and we have arranged for you two to be married!"

Conner blinked twice, still feeling as if he couldn't breathe. "Papa, I can't get married! I'm barely twenty-two years old!"

Lora looked surprised. "Twenty-two? Well, better late than never."

Jor looked at Conner. "Kon, don't you like Lora? She's beautiful, obedient, affectionate, a wonderful homemaker…and if you wed, you will have an excuse to stay on Krypton with us? Give me one good reason why you shouldn't marry her."

Conner couldn't believe what was happening. Jor wanted him to get married?! While he had to admit, she was quite a vision, but this was all going too fast. Five minutes ago, Kon hadn't even known Lora existed, and now people expected him to make her his bride? _Don't freak out, Kon,_ , he thought to himself before he said anything. _Just tell them all calmly that they're getting too far ahead in this, and that you are_ not _ready for this type of commitment yet._

But just as he opened his mouth to nip this whole thing in the bud, an image suddenly appeared in his mind's eye. He saw M'gann, with her smooth green skin, her sparkling auburn eyes, her infectious pink smile—and La'gann's arm draped over her shoulders. She was laughing at something he'd said, and he was looking straight at Conner with a nasty smirk on his face, as if to say, "Problem, chum?"

The worst part was that between giggles, M'gann saw the mean look in La'gaan's eyes, but she did nothing. In fact, she looked at Conner with the same smug look in her own pretty caramel orbs. A million feelings hit Conner all at once—hurt, sadness, jealousy, anger, loneliness. He was nothing to M'gann. To her, he was easy to replace.

At that moment, Conner made up his mind. He put a smile on his face as he looked at Jor. "You know, Papa? Come to think of it, I can't think of any reason."

Chris stood up. "You can't?!"

"Are you sure?", Katie asked her big brother. "I mean, really really _really_ sure?"

He looked back at them, the slightest of smiles gracing his features. "I'm sure."

He looked back at Lora, who was smiling right at him, her teeth as shining and white as newly polished pearls. He took one of her dainty white hands in his large, calloused ones, gently kissing the top of it as he looked at her from underneath his eyelashes. "Lora-Kad-Zol…will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?"

Lora placed one hand over her heart, looking at Conner as if she couldn't believe what was happening. "Oh, yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!", she cried. "Kon-El, you've made me the happiest girl in the world!"

Jor smiled as the two threw their arms around one another. Ignoring the shocked and horrified looks coming from half his family, he walked back to his seat at the table and raised his golden goblet high above his head. "Winderball—wonderful! It is settled than! Let it be known that two weeks' time, Kon-El and Lora-Kad-Zol shall be joined in matrimony!"

A great cheer rose up in the room. "To Kon-El and Lora-Kad-Zol! May their life together be long and prosperous!" Conner looked around the room, holding Lora close in his arms. Only one thought kept echoing in his head over and over like a song stuck on repeat.

 _What did I just get myself into?_


	8. The Bearer of Bad News

M'gann woke up to feel her bed shaking. "He's coming! He's coming! He's coming!" Garfield was doing his signature monkey jump on the bed, grinning like an idiot.

M'gann sat up groggily. "Garfield! Gar!", she moaned, putting her arm on his to slow him down. "Who's coming?" "Don't you remember?", Garfield yelled. "Its Monday! Conner's coming!"

M'gann sat up straighter, suddenly alert. "You mean he's here?!" She scrambled out of bed and ran to the mirror, her hands running over her hair.

Gar got off the bed. "Well, he's not here yet. But we do get him back today!"

He walked over to his blood sister, who was frantically trying to fix herself up. "Don't worry, you have plenty of time before he and the rest of the Supers get home. Remember, they're arriving at the Zeta tubes at three sharp. Then you can get back together with Conner." And with that, he ran out of the room.

M'gann looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep, soothing breath before going into the kitchen. There, she found her cookbook, and turned to page fifty-six, where the recipe for double chocolate chunk cookies, Conner's absolute favorite, was written. Getting out her baking supplies, she followed the directions to a T. After gently pouring the batter onto perfect lumps on the pan and shifting them into the oven, she flew into her room.

She stepped into the shower and covered her hair and body in all types of scented soaps, shampoos and gels. The moment she finished, the timer in the kitchen dinged. She dried herself off and threw on the robe before heading into the kitchen.

La'gaan came in just as she was placing the cookies on the counter to cool. "Alright!", he said, grinning as he reached for the tray, only to have M'gann swat his hand away.

"Those are for Conner!"

La'gaan rubbed his webbed hand. "Conner?"

M'gann smiled and nodded. "Yes, he's coming back today! Remember? Oh! That reminds me!"

She ran over to he kitchen island and brought over a giant paper bag with PARTY CITY written on it. "Can you please put up these decorations in the training room?" La'gaan took the bag from her and peeked inside. There were streamers in red and black, Conner's favorite colors, Super insignia balloons, and enlarged photos of Superboy from over the years.

La'gaan frowned. "D-Do we _really_ need these?"

"Yes!", M'gann cried as she closed the oven. "I want everything to be _perfect_ for when Conner comes home. Now, go meet Mal and Nightwing in the training room, they'll help you put up all the stuff."

"Why can't _you_ do it?", La'gaan asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Because I need to finish getting ready!" And with that, she soared off before he could say anything else.

Hurt and ticked off, La'gaan collasped onto the sofa with the bag of party decorations. _Neptune's Beard!_ , he thought. _All this fuss over stupid Conner! When I got back from Black Manta's captivity, no one threw_ me _a welcome back party? So why does Superjerk get one?_

Meanwhile, M'gann flew to her room and locked the door. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror and morphed her pixie haircut into a bob. Shaking her head, she then morphed it into a top bun. She tried a dozen more hairstyles before finally deciding on spiral curls falling just past her shoulders, her bangs styled into one big curl.

She ran to her closet and pulled out pieces of clothing one by one, rejecting each ensemble before choosing a slimming black dress with short sleeves, a deep V-neck, a large, wide slit in the back, showing nearly all her back skin, and a hemline that ended just above her knees.

She put on her black high-heeled stilettos, a pearl bracelet, silver hoop earrings, and the silver locket that Conner had given her for her last birthday. She applied red lipstick, silver eyeshadow, black mascara and even spritzed on a little perfume before giving herself one final checkup in the mirror.

She knew that Conner lived her for who she was, not for what she looked like. She could walk in wearing a paper bag on her body and no shoes, and he couldn't care less.

Still, even though she knew it wouldn't matter, she wanted to look her best when he came home. After all, she was going to apologize for her mistakes and confess that she still had strong feelings for him. She had a dozen butterflies in her stomach, but she pushed them down as she gave her reflection the A-OK sign and went off to prepare for Conner's return.

* * *

The party was in full swing. Bart and Jaime had just finished hanging up the handmade banner that the Team freshmen had made themselves. It was white, and they had painted "Welcome Home, Conner!" by hand in red, yellow and electric blue. Posted on every wall were photographs of him with his friends or by himself. The table in the TV room was covered with his favorite dishes, like double bacon cheeseburgers, pizza with pepperoni and sausage, and double-dipped barbecue hot wings.

Everyone was gathered in the TV room, and I mean _everyone._ Almost every single member if the Team, past and present, had come back to the Cave to make up for forgetting their superfriend and welcome him home.

M'gann sat in the middle of it all,waiting impatiently for the Zeta tubes to announce Superboy's arrival. Every five minutes, she checked her reflection in her compact mirror to make sure she still looked picture-perfect.

All of the sudden, they heard the Zeta tubes muffled words and footsteps from not too far away. "That's him!", Nightwing exclaimed. "He's coming! Everyone, quiet down!"

The lights were turned off, and all the guests crouched down in the darkness. The footsteps drew closer and closer, until at last, they stopped in the kitchen entrance. The lights flipped back on, and they all sprang out of their hiding places.

"SURPRISE!"

Confetti flew all over the place, but when it cleared, they didn't see Conner. Or Chris or Katie. There was just Clark and Lois, standing in the midst of it all, surprised and confused.

Nightwing ran up to them. "Sorry, Superman! That was for Conner! Where is he anyway?"

Clark and Lois gave each other worried side glances. He cleared his throat. "N-Nightwing…", he trailed off, not daring to look him in the eye. "I…I have some bad news."

Dick leaned in a tiny bit. "Hm?"

Clark took a deep breath before saying in a slow, serious tone, "Richard…Kon-El is not coming back."

A deadly silence fell upon the room. "Wh-What?", Dick choked out in a dry voice, feeling out of breath.

Clark shook his head sadly. "He is not coming back to live on Earth. He has decided to stay on Krypton…forever."

Dick was horrified. First, Kaldur left to go undercover. Then, Wally and Artemis both quit to live normal lives. Next, even though Artemis came back to fake her death and go undercover, Wally was mad at Dick for pulling her in. And now, even Conner had left him and the Team. "But-But-But… _why_?"

Clark chewed on his lower lip nervously, struggling to find the right words to explain his son's seemingly rash decision. "My father…Jor-El…saw that Conner wanted to stay and arranged a loophole for him. Kon-El is now betrothed to a young Kryptonian woman."

Barbara stepped forward, shocked. "Betrothed? You mean…?"

Clark shook his head. "Kon-El will be married in two weeks' time."

After ten seconds, M'gann flew right out of the training room. Soaring down the hall, her shoes falling off her feet, she opened her bedroom door with her telekinesis and stumbled inside. Exhausted and heartbroken, she collapsed onto her bed and burst into tears.

 _Its too late…I've lost him forever…_ The next few hours in the Cave were serenaded by her weeping.

 **Now before I go, I've been getting some complaints about my story from non-Supermartian shippers. Look, if you don't like Supermartian, than you shouldn't read my story. I put their names in the pairing section, the warning is right there. If you don't ship what I ship, that's okay, but don't read my story just so you can hate on my ship. Thank you. I do not own YJ or DC. Reviews welcome, no flames.**


	9. Author's Note

**Do you guys think I should delete this story? I love making it, but I've been getting a lot of negative reviews. I know they're supposed to be helpful, but what do you want me to do? Change the whole story?**

 **I don't know. I posted this on Wattpad, and no one said anything negative. Let me know if you guys think I should delete this, or if you know how I can improve it.**

 **I do not own Young Justice or DC Comics.**


	10. Preparations

"MARRIAGE?! Have you lost your MIND?!" Chris's voice was so loud, the branches on the trees outside their window shuddered and the Flookgua birds perched upon them all flew away.

It had been an hour since the banquet, since Conner had agreed to marry Lora-Kad-Zol. Chris and Katie were trying to him out of it.

Conner groaned. "No, on the contrary, for the first time, I've come to my senses. I finally realize I'm better off here than I was back on Earth. Here, I have a caring family, friends all around me, and a girl who wants to spend the rest of my life with me. If you think that I'm going to give that all up to go back to being invisible, _you're_ the one who's lost your mind."

Katie sat next to her big brother, her facial expression a mixture of sadness and disbelief. "KonKon, I know you've been feeling your breakup with Megan.", she said softly. "But marrying some woman you barely know isn't going to solve all your problems. Remember when we watched _Frozen_? Anna wanted to marry the first hot single she met. And look what happened! He turned out to be a total jerk who was plotting to kill her and Elsa and take the crown the entire time!"

Conner looked at her. "What are you saying? That Lora has this whole evil 'Prince Hans' plot to kill me?"

Katie shook her head. "No! Of course not! I'm saying you shouldn't tie the knot with a person you just met!"

"Katie's right!", Chris shouted at his brother. "An hour ago, you didn't even know Lora existed! And now you want to _marry_ her?! Either the stress of making a decision has got to you, or you've been out in the red sun for _way_ too long!"

Conner stood on his feet. "I know it sounds completely crazy, but…I need this.", he said slowly. "For months now, I've been on the outside looking in. Friends and teammates all had fun, while I was alone, uninvited…unwanted…unloved. They obviously don't care about me, so why should I care about them? I have all I need right here. I don't need any of them anymore. _Especially_ not _M'gann._ "

The way he said that last part made Katie and Chris reel back. He made it sound like her name was a curse, a hex, like just the mention of her put a bad taste in his mouth. They looked at one another, lost as what to do or say. They knew how stubborn Conner already was, and from the way he spoke of his former life and friends, they could tell that he wanted nothing more to do with them ever again. There was no way that they would be able to talk him out of his arranged marriage.

"Well, you do know that if you're staying, so are we.", Chris said.

Katie nodded. "We're going to miss Earth, but…we couldn't imagine a life without you."

Conner smiled weakly. "I couldn't imagine a life without you, either." He opened his arms, and the kids walked over. They all embraced one another in a family hug.

"Don't worry, KonKon.", Katie said. "We're gonna help you get through this wedding."

"That's right!", Chris assured him. "We'll be with you every step of the way, from the preparations to the walk down the aisle!"

Conner's smile became stronger. "I love you guys."

* * *

The House of El became a buzz with excitements and arrangements for the marriage of Kon and Lora. Katie found herself knee-deep in wedding planning with Lara, Martha, and all the other woman of the El family. They reserved the date at the Temple of Zolara, where the whole village would gather for marriage ceremonies. They made decorations to adorn the same temple for when it came time for Kon and Lora to stand at the altar, like streamers made from yards of lilac-colored silk, and heavy copper bells with bows of dark green paper ribbons tied onto them. They sent out the word that Kon, son of the Great Kal-El, was to be wed, inviting them to witness the occasion. Last, but not least, they traveled to where Lora's parents lived to talk over the arrangements with them, and settle Lora's dowry.

"Ten blookla goats and a plow? You call that a dowry?", Aunt Vula exclaimed.

Mora-Uge-Zol, Lora's mother, sighed. "Fine. We'll throw in some feetisus cows, but only because Lora is too old to find another husband. Imagine, she's nineteen and merely _betrothed_ to be married. Why, when I was that age, I was already pregnant with my third child!"

Katie fidgeted in her seat. "Isn't asking for stuff in return for marrying someone's daughter, I don't know, _greedy_?"

Everyone turned to look at her. Kad-Zol, Lora's father, raised an eyebrow, examining the new daughter of the House of El. "How old are you?"

Katie gulped. "Thirteen."

 _"Thirteen_?!", Mora cried. She gaped at Lara. "You better start working on _her_ dowry! She only has two years left before she's eligible to wed!"

The men of the El family were busy, too. Chris followed them as they helped Conner get ready for his wedding vows, and his new life with Lora. They booked him an appointment at the gentlemen's grooming chambers, so that Conner could be properly bathed, groomed and dressed for the ceremony. They helped him and Jor decide on a regular salary for Conner to work at the blacksmith's shop daily, since he would now have a wife to support, and most married woman couldn't have jobs. They assisted Conner in building a house of thick sturdy walls and a good, strong roof in which to shelter his new bride and the many children she would give him. Last, but not least, they brought him to the tailor to have him fitted for the special uniform worn by Kryptonian grooms.

Conner stood on a tall metal stool, fidgeting as Motel-Kam the tailor wrapped his measuring tapes around his arms, legs, and torso, keeping track of all his sizes as Motel told them to his wife, Tzeita, to write down for later.

Chris watched with Jor sitting on his left and Jonathan sitting on his right. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what he saw. Conner was uncomfortable with a person he barely knew touching his body all over.

Finally, Motel finished measuring. He put his hand on Conner's shoulder. "You're a nice, healthy man of perfect weight and size. Lora is a lucky woman."

Uncle Mort went over and slapped a hand on his nephew's back. "Kon is the lucky one! Yenta spent years trying to find the right husband for Lora. Someone handsome, someone heroic, someone dignified enough for her! And she said Kon fit the bill perfectly! Now he's got himself the most beautiful girl in the village as his bride!"

Mort grinned at Conner. "You, my boy, are the luckiest man on Krypton!" Conner forced a smile on his face. "Yeah…I guess I am." _So why don't I feel like it?_ , he thought to himself.


	11. Regrets

It was a dark, rainy, dreary day in Happy Harbor. Dark clouds blocked out even the tiniest bit of sun, casting shadows over the town and every couple of minutes, a flash of light lit up the darkness for a few moments, with either soft rumbling or sudden roars soon afterwards. The streets were letting off a certain glow from the heavy rainfall that came from the clouds, illuminating the ground on which no one was walking that gray, gloomy day.

Inside Mount Justice, things were no less gray or gloomy. Cassandra Sandsmark and Timothy Drake sat slouching on the sofa together, heads against each other, staring blankly at the TV set, yet paying no attention to the pictures on the screen.

Best friends Jaime Reyes and Bartholomew Allen always found ways to be crazy and wild, having fun in the silliest ways possible, even in the worst of weather. But today was an off day for them, as they leaned against the kitchen counter, absentmindedly fiddling around with some baby tomatoes, going about their business as if all the energy had been drained from them.

But perhaps the saddest person in the TV room/kitchen that dull, dreary afternoon was fourteen-year-old Garfield Logan. He sat at the kitchen table, going through an old photo album, which was filked with pictures of himself, his blood sister, and the friend they had loved so dearly and had recently lost to a foreign planet.

Finally, after hours of these sad teens not saying a word, Cassie broke the silence. "I still can't believe that Superboy's never coming back.", she said with a heavy sigh. "He's an important part of the Team. How can he do this to us? What are we supposed to do without him?"

Tim sat up. "In some ways, its our fault.", he explained. "We pretty much took him for granted. We thought he was always going to be around, no matter what. It was kinda stupid of us, now that I think about it." "It seems like only yesterday he and I were taking down Whisper and Bruno.", Jaime moaned. "And now he's gone forever."

Bart looked at Garfield, who just kept staring at his photo album. "How's Miss M?" Gar sighed and closed the album. "I don't know. She won't come out of her room, not even for food. We have to bring meals to her, 'cause it's the only way she'll eat. She won't sleep at night, either.. Al she does is cry. She's in a rut, and nobody can bring her out of it. Not me, not La'gaan, not even Uncle John."

"Where is La'gaan anyway?", Cassie asked. Gar shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure. He said he had something really important to do." He sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. He can't bring her back. No one can. The only thing that can make M'gann happy again…is Conner."

* * *

M'gann sat in her room, not moving, only staring into space, just a green lump on her bed. It had been a week and five days since Superman had announced that Conner was not only staying to live on Krypton, but was also engaged to marry on of it's women. Never before had words left her with such grief and heartbreak since Conner had first said, "We're through."

She finally sat up, more sadness threatening to burst from her eyes and further wet her already tear-stained cheeks. She still couldn't believe that Conner was marrying somebody else. Somebody who wasn't her.

They had been in love for five years, and even after everything they'd been through together, he was ready to tie the knot with some other girl, just like that. It hurt her more than fire and daggers ever could.

While it seemed like she _had_ done the same thing to him with La'gaan, in reality, it hadn't been the same. She didn't really love La'gaan. She had only tried to convince herself she was. She had been hungry for a new love to heal the nasty wounds her breakup with Conner had left behind.

But she never looked at La'gaan the way she looked at Conner. She never held La'gaan the way she had held Conner. She never kissed La'gaan the way she kissed Conner. And, no matter what the bitter little voice inside her head said, she would never truly loved La'gaan like she truly loved Conner.

M'gann bit her lip as tears filled her eyes. If only she had figured that out sooner. If only she had found the strength to tell him that, that she had made a mistake, that she hated what had happened between them, that she was sorry for invading his mind, that she wanted a second chance with him. If only she had been brave enough to tell him how she adored him, that he made her feel loved and protected, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. If only…

M'gann shook her head. What was the point of saying "If only"? What was done was done. Conner was lightyears away, promising his eternal love to another—while M'gann was left behind with nothing but regrets.

* * *

Conner stood in his new bedroom. After he and Lora were married, this was the house that they would be living in together. It consisted of five rooms—the kitchen, the dining room, the master bedroom, and the two extra rooms that were reserved for when the couple had children.

Lora was _very_ excited at the idea of having children. She had gone on and on about the strong, strapping boys that she would bear Conner, and the pretty daughters that she would give him as well. The whole subject, however, made Conner extremely uncomfortable.

He stared at the queen-sized matresses in the room, stuffed with straw, wool and cotton, and covered with a soft, thick knitted quilt. The thought of starting a family made him sweat bullets, becayse he knew that in order for him and Lora to make one, she would have to become pregnant first. And in order for her to become pregnant, they would have to...

Conner shook his head, trying to earse such thoughts from his mind. He wasn't ready for that. He didn't think he'd ever be ready for that. Lora was beautiful and alluring, but he wasn't sure that he'd ever be ready to make that kind of commitment to her, even to make so much as one baby. There was only one girl that he wanted to commit to like that. One girl with soft green skin and sweet honey-tone eyes...

He growled as he dug his fingers into his temples. "No! I won't think about M'gann anymore!" He fell onto the edge of his new bed and groaned. He knew that it wouldn't be long before he broke that promise, as he had so many times before. As the date of the wedding drew nearer, Conner found himself slippng into fantasies of him and M'gann more and more often.

His favorite fantasy was one that he had enjoyed playing in his head over the years. He stod at the altar in a nice suit. Usually, he hated monkey suits, and he wouldn't be caught dead wearing one of them, but for the right people, he would do anything. The doors of the church flew open, and there she was.

M'gan stood in the doorway, wearing a wonderful white gown, her red hair in loose curls framing her face, her head covered in a tulle veil. She had a light pink blush dusted across her face, and she seeed to be glowing as she hekd a bouquet of white roses. She floated down tha aisle like a dream, at last coming to stand by him at the altar and reaching out to take his hand.

Smiling brighter than the sun, he gently lifted the veil off her face to reveal her smiling back at him, her eyes wiming with tears of joy. Slowly, he leaned in to capture her lips in his...

Conner was snapped back to reality by the sound of his name. Jonathan and Martha Kent stood in the doorway of his new room, looking at their grandson sitting on the bed. Their Kryptonian uniforms consisted of forest green and wisteria purple.

"Big day starts after tomorow.", Jonathan said to his grandson. "Are you excited?" Conner sat up straight. "Oh! Oh, yeah! Can't wait!", he said, forcing a smile onto his face.

Martha and Jonathan looked at one another, worry misting in their eyes. Martha walked over to sit beside Conner and placed her hands on his shoulders, smiling at him understandingly. "Now dear, you know that if you ever need us, we are right here for you." She kissed him on the forehead and returned to Jonathan's side before walking out of the room with her husband.

Conner folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the floor, sighing heavily. Ma and Pa Kent had bee happily married for fifty-one years now. They had been through everything together, from raising an alien baby to moving to a whole new planet. Connr wished that he could have the close, never-ending love that they shared with each other. But he knew that he never could.

Conner rose to stand on his feet and took one last look around the room before leaving the house. After the wedding, this would be his home. Lora would be his wife. And he knew that, once he married her, he could never go back to his old life on Earth.


	12. Taking Action

**The image for my story was drawn by a friend of mine who really love Supermartian. I do not own it, YJ or DC.**

Darkness filled the room. Only the moonlight from the single window poured some light inside, on a shady figure who sat in the corner. Their back was turned, so that the only part of them that was visible from that angle was their shirt jet black hair. That, and the photograph in his hands, containing a young boy in dark glasses and a dark hoodie, hi-fiving an older boy in a black Superman T-shirt, both of them grinning like morons.

All of the sudden, he stood up. "We'll get you back…"

* * *

M'gann stood in the kitchen, slowing mixing a bowl of oatmeal, her mind far, far away from here. Lightyears, in fact. On Krypton. With Conner. Everyday that went by without him was empty. It seemed that ever since he left, the Team had lost their spark and energy.

Training sessions were shorter, due to members not putting in a hundred percent. Captain Atom hadn't been sending them on missions lately, and Black Canary tried to help with therapy sessions. And every time they passed by Conner's empty bedroom, someone started crying. It was usually M'gann.

"Hey, Angelfish." M'gann turned around to see La'gaan standing behind her, with the biggest grin on his face. He was the only one of them who hadn't been brought down by Conner's departure. Than again, he had been the only one of them who hadn't liked Conner in anyway. After all, when he was around, La'gaan had had to put up with his snide remarks and longing glances at M'gann.

But not anymore. Now Conner was gone forever, living on another planet and engaged to another woman. La'gaan was finally rid of his competition. The day Superman had announced that Superboy was never coming back was the happiest day of La'gaan's life. With his rival finally out of the picture, he and M'gann could live happily ever after.

La'gaan wore a dapper black tuxedo with a matching black bow tie, with gold cufflinks on the ends of his sleeves, and shiny black shoes on his feet. Grinning like a fool, he took M'gann's hand in his. "Angelfish, these past few months I've spent at your side have been the greatest of my life. You are everything that I have ever wanted in a girl—smart, kind, loving, non-judgmental…I know that I will never find anyone more perfect to spend my life with. And now that that jerk Conner is finally gone for good, we can get on with our lives."

M'gann flinched when he said, "that jerk Conner", but La'gaan didn't seem to notice as he got down on one knee, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a silver ring, adorned with the biggest pearl M'gann had ever seen. "M'gann M'orrz…will you marry me?"

M'gann just stood there, frozen to her spot, feeling as if the world had stopped around her. She couldn't believe this was happening, that La'gaan was actually proposing to her. For a moment, she thought about saying yes. Maybe, if she married him, he could heal her where Conner had broken her by running off to marry someone else. Maybe, if they worked together, they could find the missing pieces of her broken heart. Maybe, if she said yes, she could find happiness with him.

But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a framed photo on the wall. It was of M'gann and Conner with the original Team at the beach together. He had his arms around her, squeezing her torso as they laughed, his eyes never leaving her. M'gann shook her head as she realized, no, she couldn't marry La'gaan.

Married or not, Conner would always be her true love. La'gaan didn't deserve to be stuck in second fiddle, to think he was the first place trophy when he was really just a reject prize, to be the rebound guy for the rest of his life. No one deserved that. She knew deep down, that no matter how hard he searched, he would never find her heart. Conner would always have her heart. La'gaan would always have her sympathy.

Before she could give him her answer, Nightwing's voice came over the intercom. "Team, report to the main room for briefing." M'gann bit her lip, morphing into her Miss Martian uniform. She hated to put off, but duty called. "This'll have to wait!", she said to La'gaan as she flew down the hall towards the main room of the Cave, leaving him behind as he struggled to take off his tux as quickly as possible without damaging it.

She flew into the briefing room and landed right in front of Nightwing. "What's going on?" He faced the masses. "Team, I know Conner. I've been friends with him for over five years. I know what's like him and what's not. And its _not_ like him to just run off and marry some girl he just met. We may not have shown it lately, but we all love Conner. As a friend, as a brother, or—" He looked over at M'gann. "…as something more."

"We need to show him that now.", he continued, facing his team, like a true leader. "We need to show him that we all care about him, and that because we do care, we're not going to stand by and let him make such a huge mistake."

M'gann's eyes widened as she processed Nightwing's words in her hesd, slowly figuring out what he was telling them. "Dick…y-you don't mean…" "Yes.", he said in a serious but gentle tone. "We're going to Krypton. And we're going to win back our friend."


	13. Geting Ready

Conner woke up to Wolf licking his face, getting slobber all over. He sat up, wiping the doggy drool off his chin. "I'm up! I'm up…"

He smiled at Wolf and scratched him behind the ears as the white animal whimpered in pleasure. He looked at the tiny sundial on his dresser drawer. According to it's shadow, it was almost noon. "…and I'm late!"

He scrambled out of bed and dashed to the closet to get his clothes and shoes. "I'm supposed to meet them at the town square…aw, man, Papa's gonna _kill_ me!"

He pulled on his red shirt and pants and hopped into the kitchen putting on his shoes, Wolf following close behind.

He looked around tosee that the kitchen was completely empty. The rest of the family had already left to prepare for the wedding today. He ran his fingers through his hair and swished some water in his mouth. He didn't have time to brush his teeth or comb his hair. He had to meet Jor and Chris at the men's grooming chambers to get ready for the wedding.

He reached into the icebox and pulled out a juicy rare steak, flinging it towards his devoted pet. "Enjoy! Chris and Katie'll be by in an hour or two to take you to the wedding!"

And with that, he went running out the doors to meet his destination.

* * *

Jor-El tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his grandson to appear. He and Chris were standing right outside the entrance to the men's grooming chambers.

"Where is he?", the elder man growled, glancing at his silver pocketwatch. "He was supposed to to be here half an hour ago!"

Chris shrugged. "Punctuality never was his strong point."

Jor sat down, frustrated. "Of all the days to be late…I knew I should prayed to the Great Zon for luck."

Chris put a finger to his lip in thought. "Maybe I should call him on his phone." Jor looked up at him, puzzled. "What is a phone?" Chris remembered what planet he was on. "Er…never mind."

Just then, who should finally come running up the streets but the lucky groom himself. His black hair was tangled and had sticks and leaves through it, and his face was streaked with dirt and covered in ash so you could barely recognize him. His clothes were stained with mud, with splatters and splashes of it on his short, and a thick layer coating the ends of his pants.

He stopped in front of his grandfather, panting and out of breath. "Sorry…I'm late…I—"

"KON-EL!", Jor cried. "What happened? You're a mess!"

"Sorry.", Conner said, catching his breath. "I overslept, and I had to take a shortcut, but I ran into some roadblocks, you see—"

"We don't have time for a story!", Jor scolded, grabbing his arm. "We have to get you cleaned up! You can't get married looking like that!" He dragged Kon into the grooming chambers, Chris following close behind.

* * *

Conner yelled out as another bucket of hot water was dumped onto his head. Once he had entered the chambers, he had been led to a folding screen, where Jor and the bath man had stripped him of all his clothes. He had then been shoved into a bathtub, made out of iron and filled nearly all the way up with steaming hot bathwater, without a stitch of clothing on his body.

Conner now sat naked in the tub, surrounded by the bath man and his brother and grandfather, as they bathed and groomed him. The bath man poured some shampoo into Conner's hair and scrubbed at it, creating a foam on top of Conner's head. Kon grunted and flinched as fingers rubbed deep against his scalp to clean it.

Finally, the bath man released his kneading hands off Conner's head. He sighed in relief as he smiled up at the man. "Thank you—" Before he could finish, he felt a hand get an iron grip on the back of his short, soapy hair. He looked to see Chris holding him from behind, a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry about this, bro."

"What are you—"

Conner was cut off as Chris dunked his head under the water to rinse his hair. He kept his grip for a few moments before releasing. Conner sat back up with a gasp, panting heavily to catch his breath. He turned back to glare daggers at Chris. "Was that _really_ necessary?!"

The bath man continued to work. He took some scented cleansing oils, poured it onto his hand, and rubbed it all over Conner's arms, neck, back and chest. Then he even poured a little perfume into his hair. Then he proceeded to take a sponge and scrub Conner all over his body, with great force, to clean him.

Conner squirmed as Jor helped scrub the dirt and mud off of his skin. "Hold still!"

Conner took the sponge from him. "Thanks, but I can bathe myself…" He started to rub the sponge against his arm, but was cut off with a bunch of steaming hot water falling over his head onto his soapy skin, making him yell in pain. He turned around and glared at Chris, who was holding a now empty bucket over his brother's head and was smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. They told me to."

"We are running behind schedule!", Jor said as he took back the sponge and resumed cleaning his grandson's arm. "Just stop fidgeting and let us finish!" He then took an old-fashioned razor, rubbed some stuff on Conner's chin and cheeks, and began to shave his face.

Seeing there was no point in struggling, Kon-El gave in and just sat in the tub, trying not to move too much as Jor and Chris washed him and the bath man grabbed a spritz bottle to spray Conner with perfumes.

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Conner tried his best to sit still, but the barber had no mercy as he pulled and tugged at his short black hair, trying to comb out all the knots and tangles. "Ouch!" He turned around in his chair to face the barber, glaring and rubbing his sore head. "That hurts!"

The barber frowned at him. "Oh, so its _my_ fault that you never comb that thing?! If you would hold still, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much! At this rate, we'll be lucky if I can get it untangled." He gripped Conner's shoulder and turned him back around. "Now quit squirming and let me finish my work!"

Conner crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, his eyes twitching with each yank and pull at his slightly-shaggy black locks. After ten minutes, the barber finished combing his hair. He dipped his hand in a small container of hair gel and smothered the top of Conner's head with it.

Kon tried not to fidget as the barber smoothed his hair down and doused it in hair gel to hold it in place. Finally, the barber put on the finishing touches, cried out, "Done!", and directed Conner towards the mirror. Conner leaned in and squinted at his reflection, trying to recognize himself.

His hair was trimmed neater, and was shiny from all the gel used to style it. A band of gold circled his forehead, with a small, round red Kryptonite gem right in the middle. Since they had no powers here, Kryptonite had no effect on them and was actually considered beautiful.

But it was the spit curl that brushed against his forehead, like the one Superman always had, that made Conner frown. "I look like such a nerd."

* * *

Motel-Kam and his assistant held out Conner's wedding uniform pants as he stepped into them. They were made of scarlet red iridescent cloth, with a belt made of gold and other red Kryptonite gem in the very middle. The hem of the legs were lined with gold as well, with solid gold sandals to wear on his feet.

Conner sighed heavily as he slid long golden wristbands onto his arms. This should be the happiest day of his life…but instead, he felt as if his heart was breaking. It didn't help that Jor kept talking about how proud and joyous he had been on his wedding day, and how proud and joyous Conner must be as well.

After today, Conner would have a beautiful wife and get to start a new life with her. But every time he tried to picture Lora, with her clear, pale skin, her bright green eyes and her flowing brown hair, his thoughts always turned to the girl with freckled green skin, reddish-brown eyes, and short red hair.

At last, Conner took the golden sash, worn by Kryptonian grooms, and slung it over his shoulder, so that it crossed over his shirtless chest. Jor stood in front of him, framing him with his hands, unable to stop grinning.

"Perfect.", he whispered.

* * *

The tent was dark as Jor led Conner inside. This was no common tent, though. This tent belonged to the Wise Man of the village. Conner could feel his heart beating so hard, he was afraid it would burst out of his chest. He sat down, crossing his legs as he seated himself before the dark figure behind the pots of multicolored war paints.

The figure sat the same way as he leaned out of the shadows, revealing his wrinkled face, with his bald head and his long white beard, just reaching the floor. "So, this is Kon-El, son of the great Kal-El. How handsome he is. Your grandfather has told me many stories of your bravery and courage."

With slow and steady hands, he picked up the large pot of deep red war pant and placed it onto his lap. He took a paintbrush and dipped it into the pot, stirring it. Holding the brush out, he painted a long red streak across Conner's cheekbone with gentle, steady strokes. Then he re-dipped and did the same to the other cheek.

Finally, he dipped one hand, curled into a fist, into the pot, then the other, coating both in red paint. He reached out and pressed his clenched fists against both of Conner's breasts before painting little strokes of red above the marks, creating the mark of a bear paw.

"The Grumenkaa bear.", the Wise Man whispered. "A symbol of courage and protectiveness. It represents your bravery, tells all that you have a warrior's heart."

After cleaning his hands, he brought Conner to his feet and took him to the full body mirror. Conner blinked, his eyes widening as he looked at the stranger in the mirror. He looked so polished, so dignified, so… _foreign_. Was it really him?

He raised an eyebrow and pointed to his reflection. "Who is that guy? Do I know him?"

Jor came over and placed his hands on Kon's shoulders, smiling at him broadly. "There now. You're ready to be married."

He pointed out the opening of the tent, towards the sun, which was beginning to sink in the sky. "Tonight, when the moon is at it's highest peak in the sky, you and Lora shall become one."

Conner looked at himself in the mirror one final time. In the eyes of everyone else, he was the perfect picture of a Kryptonian bridegroom. But all that Conner saw was a coward who couldn't speak his mind, who wasn't brave enough to not go through with the wedding.

It was too late. He was already in too deep. Tonight, he would be accepting Lora-Kad-Zol as his wife—and be giving up on M'gann forever.


	14. What is Beneath the Surface

"Coming up to Krypton." The Team gazed in amazement as they laid eyes on the planet Krypton for the very first time. The Bio-Ship showed them a clear view of the planet where Superman's people now resided. They were all in awe, even Lagoon Boy, a million thoughts running through their heads as they got closer and closer. At last, they landed on the surface of Krypton, just outside the cold steel gates.

They quickly filed out of the ship. When they were all together, NIghtwing got their attention. "Okay, we're gonna split up into groups, that way we'll cover more ground. When one of us finds Conner, contact the others through the physic link. We'll all meet up, then we'll talk to Conner together to convince him to come home."

The Team all noded their heads, acknowleging their leader. Nightwing looked over at Mis Martian, who was loking nervous as she smoothed down her short ginger hair. He placed a gloved hand on her shoulder, getting her to look at him. "Don't worry, M'gann.", he said. "We'll get to him in time."

Everyone was so focused on their mission as Nightwing put them into groups, they didn't notice tiny little gray balls roll up to them by their feet–until those balls exploded into a thick gray fog. The Team coughed and coughed until, finally, they passed out. The last thing they saw was a slim, feminine figure standing over them.

* * *

When they woke up, they were in a large, dark, dungeon-like room altogether. The only thing they could see were the heavy black chains shackled to their wrists and ankles, attached to giant heavy metal balls. Oh, good! I'm so glad you're all awake."

They turned to the source of the voice. It was smooth, yet it had ice in it's tone. Sitting in the corner of the room, lit by a dozen candles melting into the floor, was a lovely young woman.

Her fair skin was almost as white as the sleeveless, strapless dressing gown she had on, and her silky brown hair was pinned into a bun. But her green eyes, though mesmerizing, were full of malice, and the smile on her face was cold and menacing. Slowly, she stood up, stepping over the candles to get a better look at these heroes.

"So…you're the little heroes who are so attached to Kon-El?", she said with a wicked chuckle. Batgirl narrowed her eyes at her. "Who are you? And why are you holding us here?" She grinned. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lora-Kad-Zol, betrothed to your beloved Superboy."

She saw the heartbroken look on Miss Martian's face, and wasted no time in rubbing it in her face. "Yes…it shall be til death do us part…" Her menacing smile grew wider. "…which will be sooner than he knows." There was a twinkle in her eye, a twinkle that Nightwing recognized right away, a twinkle that he had only seen in the eyes of the truly evil. "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed through the room. From out if the shadows stepped Vandal Savage, the crème de la crème of all supervillians, the head of the Light, and the one determined to rid the world of all heroes and evoke the further evolution of the human race.

"Hello, children." His eyes and smile were similar to Lora's as he looked at her. "You did well, my dear. Now all you must do is go through with the wedding. Lure Superboy into our trap." "Trap?"

Savage looked back at the Team. "Weeks of careful plotting has led up to this glorious moment. When Brainiac said he had rediscovered Krypton, the Light knew it was the beginning in a new plan to rid ourselves of Project Kr. We made sure that Jor-El's contraption worked, so that it'd bring the Supers here. We knew that after how you treated him, Superboy would want to stay here forever."

"To seal the deal, we contacted Lora-Kad-Zol." She smiled sinisterly. "We hypnotized the matchmaker so that she'd choose me as Kon-El's bride. I didn't think it'd be so easy to lure him in, but Kon…he was so desperate for love, he was willing to marry me just like that! I almost felt sorry for him…almost."

She dusted off her dressing gown. "Now all that's left for me to do, is make sure he says "I do", and…well since these _are_ your final hours, I may as well tell you. After the wedding, there's going to be a little…"accident". An accident that shall leave me widowed. Such a shame, too."

The Team gasped in horror as they realized what she meant, what she planned to do. "You…wouldn't…" "Oh, it'll be easy.", Lora said. "Without his powers, he's as helpless as a bunny." "The plan was that without your powerhouse, your team would fall apart.", Savage continued. "If I had only known that you would come running after your little friend. I would have come better prepared."

"But…we must look on the bright side of things." He grinned wickedly at Lora. "Thank you for your sevices. Once we kill Kon-El and his friends and take over Earth, you shall have whatever your sweet little black heart desires." He bent down and kissed her hand, then turned back to the Team with the same smug, evil gleam in his eye. "Do make yourselves at home. Once the marriage is binding, we will be back for you."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get dressed.", Lora said, a fake, happy smile plastered on her face. "After all, it _is_ my wedding day." They turbed their backs to the shocked and horrified heroes. M'gann sat up, struggling with her chains. "You won't get away with this!"

Both villains turned their heads towards the Martian, their mouths formed into pleased yet wicked half-smiles. "Oh…but I already have.", Lora said, cruelty dripping from her voice. And with those words said, she and Vandal Savage slunk back into the shadows, followed by the loud heavy clunk of the door closing and the click of the lock.

In all the shock, no one noticed two identical pairs of blue eyes watching them from the crack in the corner of the ceiling.


	15. Rescue

Chris and Katie had been bringing Wolf to the Temple of Zolara for the wedding when they had heard some noise coming from the gates of their village. Upon investigating, they saw Light minions dragging the unconscious bodies of their friends from Earth.

As quietly as they could, the duo followed the minions to the abandoned building where the heroes where then ball-and-chained. They waited for them to wake up, and from there, Chris and Katie heard every word of Lora and Vandal Savage's dastardly plot.

They hid behind a wall, with Wolf by their side, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. "So Lora _is_ like Prince Hans!", Katie cried. "She's secretly evil and got this evil plan to kill Conner and the people he loves! Its like watching _Frozen_ again! Only this time, we're actually _in_ the movie!"

Chris shook his head. "We've got to do something! We're got to warn Conner and stop the wedding! The only question is…how to we do it?" "Through the power of friendship and true love!", Katie said. Chris quirked one eyebrow at her. "What?" Katie shrugged innocently. "That's how Anna and Elsa beat Hans."

Chris smacked a hand over his face. He loved his sister, but sometimes, she was a few pies short of a picnic. He released a tired sigh as he rubbed one of his temples. "Katie, we can't do th—" Suddenly, he stopped, and looked up with an intrigued expression, a lightbulb going off in his head. "Wait a minute…that's it!"

He grinned from ear to ear at his blonde sibling. "Katie! Your genius is showing!" She looked down at herself. "What? Where?" Chris moaned.

* * *

"See?! What did I tell you?!" La'gaan sat in the dungeon, badgering his teammates, going on and on like his usual jerkface self. "I _told_ you guys that it was a bad idea to go after Conner! We were doing just fine without him! But did any of you listen to me! _Noooooooo_! NO one listens to Lagoon Boy!"

The Team sat around in a circle, slumped over and worn out from listening to La'gaan's rant. They were way too bummed out to yell back at him. All they could think about was their impending doom, and how they had lost Conner forever.

M'gann herself sat alone in the furthest and darkest corner of the room, hugging her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her face. She hadn't cried this much since Clark announced that Conner was getting married. Now, not only had she lost him to another woman, but soon to death as well, which she herself would soon experience.

How foolish she had been! She had nearly killed others in her pursuit for justice, and when Conner tried to help him, she had ignored him, choosing instead to try and change his mind by invading his mind. Instead of admitting her mistake and trying to fix things, she had run into the arms of the first man who made her feel welcome.

M'gann was pulled back to reality by Garfield shaking her shoulder. "Sis…are you okay?" M'gann began crying all over again. "No, Gar! No, I'm not okay! This is all my fault! If I hadn't abused my powers, I wouldn't have lost Conner. Then he wouldn't have felt unwanted, and he wouldn't have gone to Krypton, and he'd never have met Lora, and we wouldn't all be doomed! This is all _my_ fault, Gar! Mine!"

She sobbed harder and harder, getting the attention of everyone else in the room. "And you wanna know what the worst part is? I'm going to die without getting to see Conner one last time, without ever telling him that I made a mistake, without ever getting to look into his eyes and confess that…" She gulped, more tears spilling from her eyes. "…that I love him." She buried her face in her knees and bawled her eyes out.

All of the sudden, there was the extra loud sound of two laser guns' ZAP! The next thing they knew, the very wall of the dungeon melted into a giant pile of metallic goop, to reveal Chris and Katie standing behind it, wearing their superhero uniforms and each holding a laser ray gun in their hand. They had Wolf by their sides, and both of them were smirking. "Oh, yeah."

"Guys!", Nightwing cried as they used the guns to melt the teams chains off. "You came to save us! We didn't even know you knew we were here!" "We saw some Light minions dragging you here!", Chris explained. "We hid and overheard what Lora and Savage are planning after the wedding! I always sensed that something was off about that girl."

"We knew that there was only one thing for us to do!", Katie said. "Free our best friends, go to the Temple of Zolara, and stop Conner's wedding!" She finished melting of M'gann's chains. "And only _you_ , Conner's true love, can give him a reason to not go through with it. Well, besides Lora wanting to kill him afterwards." M'gann wiped her eyes and giggled, smiling.

Wait!", Robin interrupted, rubbing his wrists. "Where did you get the lasers? I thought technology wasn't allowed." "Chris made them!", Katie exclaimed. "He used only a bunch of hairbrush bristles, the broken snaps off some old mousetraps, and a few chicken pellets for power!" Chris blew the smoke off his handmade gun. "I should thank Damian for dragging me to those Survival 101 classes."

He smiled at the others. "Now c'mon, you guys! We've got a wedding to crash!"

* * *

In the halls of the ladies' grooming parlor, footsteps were heard, footsteps of a young man.

Kon-El walked through the special passageways of the parlor, paved for the grooms to make their way through the building without seeing other women prepare for their marriages. The hallway led to the waiting room, where the bride sat and waited for her groom to appear, so he could take her to the Temple where they would be wed.

Most men walking the path would have a happy spring in their step, but as for Conner, his feet felt as heavy as stone as he dragged them along.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection on the window glass. His hair was perfectLy cut and styled, his uniform gleamed with gold, and his chest was decorated with the symbols of bravery. He looked handsome, regal and dignified. Even the scented oils the bath man had doused him with were refined scents, making him smell like pine and rosewood.

Lara had told him that she hadn't seen such a charming groom since she married Jor. He put both hands on the glass as he stared at himself, looking clean-cut yet masculine at the same time. If only he felt as good as he looked.

He was stirred out of his thoughts when he noticed the last of the red sun setting in the distance. Once it disappeared completely and the moon was at it's highest point, the wedding ceremony would begin. Conner had to fetch his blushing bride and escort her to the Temple before the day ended and night fell upon the village.

Looking at his reflection one last time, he gave a heavy sigh, almost as heavy as his heart, and turned away from the window, resuming his march towards the waiting room.

If he had held his gaze at the window just a moment longer, he would have noticed three dark figures making their way towards the village. The one in the middle was masculine, his shaggy black hair fluttering in the wind as he ran.

On his left, a shorter, stouter and stranger-looking figure ran beside him, in a style resembling a monkey's, his tail waving behind him. And on the far right, a slim, feminine figure floated by their side, her long cape flapping as she flew through the air.

 _Don't worry, Conner…we're coming for you…._ Whether or not he wanted them to, whether or not he still needed them, they had to save their brave and loving friend from marrying the most evil being in existence.


	16. For Better or For Worse Part I

It was dark inside the Temple. Shadows crept through the halls, looking ready to grab innocent bystanders at any moment, and the statues bore the hideous faces of Zatan, the dark God, and his demons of death. Conner was scared. This was a surprise, as he had never experienced true fear before. But he was experiencing it now.

His heart was pounding against his ribs. Sweat formed on his brow. His chin shuddered like leaves in the wind. Every fiber in his body was screaming at him not to go through with this. But he pushed aside the voices in his head as he walked down the path, taking with him the prize that so many other men lusted after, his legs growing weaker and weaker with each step.

All of the sudden, the moon at last rose to it's highest peak in the night sky, spilling it's soft, silvery light into the Temple. The shadows retreated from the moon's rays, and the statues cast off their demonic faces, showing instead the holy features of the Gods and Goddesses of war, music, beauty, wisdom, the hunt, the sun and the moon, the harvest, and so on, illuminating them with a heavenly glow.

The entire hall was now filled with a lovely, romantic light. But Conner was still afraid. His legs trembled, praying for something, anything to happen, like a flood or an earthquake or even a shower of mighty meteors to rain down, so that he wouldn't have to be here, walking this path.

But he had to be here. He was to be married.

Kon-El looked to his right at the woman he was escorting to the altar, who he knew was an beauty rare. Her long, dark brown hair was pinned into an elegant bun in the back of her head, with sparkling green Kryptonite crystals woven through the silky strands. The crystals dangling from her forehead fell to her lovely green eyes, which were shining with desire as she looked at her bridegroom.

Her wedding dress was absolutely gorgeous. It was made of exquisite silk that was the same emerald green hue as those glowing eyes. The sleeveless, strapless sweetheart neckline was trimmed with white-silver, as well as the hemline of the gown as it reached past her toes. The skirt fell around her legs and trailed back behind her into a long silken train, dragging along as her body moved from every other direction.

Her face was gleaming with white makeup, to symbolize her purity, that she had never before been taken by another man. Her eyelids glistened with silver, brightening her already glittering eyes, with pitch black paint lining her eyelids to look like a cat's eye. Two perfect circles of pinkish-red rouge were brushed on her cheeks, lighting them up like cherry blossoms. For the final touch, her lips had been painted a deep, lustful red, making them appear fuller, symbolizing her fiery passion as a woman, a lover, and a wife.

It was easy for any man to fall in love with this young lady. But Conner had not fallen for her, and he never would. It seemed, though, that it would not matter, that he had no other choice, as he took her to the altar to take her as his bride.

Conner held his arm out at his side, bent at a certain angle, as his young bride had her delicate hand, cloaked in a long green glove that ended past her elbow, trimmed with white-silver at the end, folded on it in a sophisticated manner. She fluttered her long, dark, curled eyelashes at him. "Something troubles you…my husband?"

He whipped his head towards her, obviously annoyed. "I am not your husband yet, Lora." She laughed, her voice like tingling bells. "Look around you, Kon-El!", she said. "We are moments away from being joined together!" She whispered into his ear. "In a matter of minutes, I shall belong to you… _forever_."

He turned away from her, trying to stop himself from crying by focusing instead on the grand wooden doors, decorated with carvings of the Gods, that was now inches from his face. "I know." If he had kept his gaze on Lora, he would have seen a couple of familiar silhouettes fly past the window behind her.

At that moment, the mighty double doors flew open. Conner was temporarily blinded as a great white light surrounded him. Strong, loud music filled his ears. Even at the song's volume, he could still hear the sound of a thousand feet scratching against the floor. Gathering all of his courage, he walked through the doorway with Lora, taking exactly five steps before stopping.

As the doors closed behind them, Conner regained his sight, his vision to see the Grand Hall. He could now see nearly a hundred people gathered in the pews, standing tall and looking over their shoulders to welcome the bride and groom. The walls were fifty feet high and twice as long, decorated with the silk streamers and copper bells with paper ribbons.

Built into them were stained glass windows depicting the marriages of the Gods, from Sun God Zetes's union to mortal beauty Polta to the marriage of the Great Zon himself to his Queen Zora. A single tear slipped down Conner's nose as he looked at the stained glass window shining light onto the altar, resembling Zolara, daughter of the Great Zon and the Goddess of love and marriage, floating down from the heavens to bestow her holy blessings upon the newlywed couple.

In all the splendor, no one noticed one of the statues come to life. The dark figure, not a statue, but a person, crept on the ledge of the ceiling, high up in the air, and gazed out the window, the colored glass being the only thing separating it from the Grand Hall. The figure was shaped like a muscular toned young man, whose eyes were hidden behind a white mask. He was as silent as a corpse, like a predator waiting for the right moment to swoop in, his eyes fixed on his prey.

Looking through the window, he gave a signal, and a dozen more dark figures emerged from the shadows one by one, gathering together. The first one, who was obviously their leader, jumped to the floors without a sound and nodded his head to the others. The coast was clear.

* * *

The musicians in the corner played ad the bride and groom walked down the aisle side by side. The tune they played sounded similar to the Wedding March, but with different notes here and there. The guests were all smiling, and some of the female watchers were close to tears.

When the couple passed a pew, the people standing at the end closest to them would throw flower petals before their feet and make a holy motion for good fortune. Lora was loving all the attention, holding her head up high and smiling boldly. Conner, on the other hand, didn't dare to look any of the guests in the eye. He kept his focus on the floor, his heart sinking lower and lower the closer they got to the altar.

At last, they reached the end of the aisle. Standing on the Podium was the High Priest, wearing a silver cloak with black vertical stripes and a large silver headdress. The wrinkles on his face were proof of his long life, and you could see the wisdom in his eyes. He raised his arms over his head and addressed the audience.

"People of Krypton, you have gathered in this Temple, under the light of Zotoza, Goddess of the night and moon, to witness the union of Kon from the House of El, and Lora from the House of Zol. As Zotoza joins the dark with the light, so do we join these two lovers, in the eternal and never-ending bonds of holy matrimony. Tonight, these two shall become one, making a sacred vow that shall last till the end of time."

"Should there be anyone present within these halls who has a reason why this enchanting young couple cannot be wed, than let the Great Zon hear your voice now, or else forever hold their pledge of love." Conner looked behind him, hoping against hope that someone else would disagree with this wedding and he would have an excuse not to go through with it. But the whole room was silent, smiling at him and his future spouse with kindness and consent.

His face fell as he turned his head back to the High Priest, not noticing the nasty smirk on Lora's face. "Didn't think so.", she muttered under her breath.

* * *

The Team had finally reached the end of the hall. Nightwing turned to M'gann. "I think Miss M should have the honors.", he said. She looked surprised at first, before nodding her head. "You're right. I should do this. I have to." She walked over and put both hands on each side of the door. "Here goes nothing…"

"STOP!" The Team turned around to see Kryptonian monks behind them, with their shiny, spotless bald heads and shapeless black hooded robes. "And just what do you heathens think that you are doing? There is a _wedding ceremony_ going on in there!" "We know!", Bart blurted out. "That's why we're going in! We're trying to stop it!" Jaime face palmed.

"How _dare_ you try to disrupt the sacred ties of matrimony!", said the monk leader. "Men of Zetar!" At once, the monks cast off their cloaks to reveal the karate outfits they wore underneath. Chris and Katie looked at them with wide eyes. "Oh…did we forget to tell you guys that members of the Temples are throughly trained in Kryptonian martial arts?", Chris said nervously. La'gaan glared at him and Katie. If looks could kill, they would both be dead as doornails. "You guys are just remembering that NOW?!"

Nightwing stood in front of his team, his eyes fixed on the monk army like a hawk, looking ready to attack. "Let's do this…" He pulled out his bow staff. "Team, _GO_!"


	17. For Better or For Worse Part II

The Team charged at the Kryptonian monks, kicking, punching, hitting and flying. Nightwing cornered the monk leader, his metal staff against the wooden one. "Kon-El and Lora-Kad-Zol will be married as planned, without any disturbances or criminals getting in the way!", he groaned, trying to fight. Nightwing pressed his staff harder against it's opponent. "I'm sorry, but we can't let that happen!"

Miss Martian threw off a few monks and looked back towards the doorway. _Guys, help me!_ , she said through the physic link. _I need to stop the ceremony before Conner says I do!_ The others nodded in acknowledgement. _Acknowledged! Don't worry! We'll cover you! GO!_ Nodding her head, she swooped down towards the double doors.

Just as she came in front of them, she felt something catch onto her cape, holding her back. She turned around to see La'gaan, clinging desperately onto her cloak with his webbed hands. "La'gaan! What are you doing? Let me go!" "I-I can't!", he cried, his red eyes becoming wet. "If you go through those doors, you'll never come back!"

M'gann shook her head. "What are you talking about?" "I've seen it in your eyes, Angelfish. You think I haven't noticed, but I have. I see the way you look at Conner, the way your eyes light up whenever he's in the room. I've been trying to ignore it, but I can't anymore."

"You've been slipping away from me, slowly, but surely. Now you're almost gone. And I just know that once you go through those doors, I'll lose you forever." He looked her in her reddish-brown eyes. "Tell me, M'gann…when you stop this wedding, what's going to happen to us?"

M'gann blinked a few times. All this time she thought La'gaan had been oblivious to the connection that she and Conner still shared. But he had only been in denial the whole time. But there was no denying it any longer. He knew there would be nothing stopping her from getting back with Conner if she stopped the wedding. He at least deserved a good explanation.

"La'gaan, I'm sorry. You're a great guy, warm, and caring, and thoughtful. But my heart belongs to Conner. It always has, and it always will. It's a far deeper love than I could ever give you. You deserve more than that. You need to find someone who loves you for all the right reasons."

La'gaan sucked in his lips. "So its over?" She didn't answer him. She didn't need to. He nodded solemnly. "That's all I needed to know." He reluctantly released his hands from her cape. "Goodbye, M'gann…we'll always have crab cakes."

She chuckled a bit at his joke. Going into camouflage mode, she flew up into the air and density-shifted through the stained glass windows into the Grand Hall. With her gone, there was nothing stopping the tears from falling from La'gaan's eyes.

"Do you, Lora from the House of Zol, take Kon-El to be your faithful husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, from this day forward, until death and only death separates you from him?" Lora looked at Conner and smiled, the red paint on her lips making her white teeth seem even whiter. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I do." Conner gulped, feeling himself sweat all over again. Now it was his turn.

M'gann floated into the Grand Hall undetected, her eyes scanning the crowd, until they finally stopped at the altar, where three people stood, separated from the rest. But there was only one she was focused on. She couldn't feel her heartbeat as the High Priest addressed him in a clear, deep voice.

"And do you, Kon from House of El, take Lora-Kad-Zol to be your devoted wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, from this day forward, until death and only death separates you from her?"

Conner looked at Lora, her head nestled on his shoulder, looking up at him with those gorgeous green orbs. "I…" He knew what he had to say. He'd rehearsed it in front of the mirror a hundred times before. But for some reason, the words couldn't leave his mouth. He turned his head to the audience, searching for the faces of his little brother and sister, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"I…" He coughed to clear his throat, but he still couldn't say it. "I…I...I..." M'gann could hold it on no longer. "Conner, NO!"

His eyes went wide as he turned around, unlocking himself from Lora's grip. "M'gann?" Could it be so? He wanted to so badly for that voice to be her. His eyes scoured the faces in the room, hoping with all his heart that one would belong to her. But he couldn't find any that had her beautiful features.

Jor turned around to face the room. "Who said that?" He and the other guests looked around, searching for the source of the sound that had disrupted the ceremony. Lora grabbed Conner's arm and turned him back to the High Priest, jabbing her head towards him. Still in camouflage mode, M'gann floated to the ground and ran towards the altar.

Conner stared at the floor, deep in thought. "I…I…I…" The sound of that voice stirred up old memories. When he closed his eyes, he could see her sweet pink smile and hear her contagious laughter. Frustrated, Lora grabbed the sides of his head and turned it to look at her. Holding his face in her gloved hands, she stared at him with impatience. "Kon…do you take me as your wife?" He looked into her green eyes as she waited for his answer. Her heart beating rapidly, M'gann reached out to him and opened her mouth to scream.

"I can't."

M'gann stopped in her tracks. Lora stared at him in horror. "WHAT?!" He pried her hands off his face and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lora. I can't do this." Gasps and murmurs rose from the crowd. M'gann felt herself relax, holding her hand over her heart as she smiled bigger than she had in years. Lora, however looked like she was ready to kill someone.

"What do you mean _you can't do this_?! I did NOT go through two weeks of beauty treatments, dress fittings and crash-dieting to be left standing at the altar!" She grabbed Conner by both arms, digging her freshly manicured fingernails into his bare flesh, making him wince in pain. "I _always_ get what I want, Kon-El…and what I want now is _you._ "

All of the sudden, out of nowhere, the canister containing the incense oil tipped over as if pushed by a mysterious force. As the oil hit the ground, a great thick strong-smelling white fog swallowed everyone standing at the altar. Lora coughed and wheezed, releasing her grip on Conner as she tried to catch her breath.

Before Conner could inhale the fumes, a strange invisible force lifted him into the air and all the way to the other end of the Grand Hall before setting him down gently. He fell to his knees panting, when he felt two soft and delicate hands cupping his face. He looked up as his vision cleared from the incense, and his eyes grew wide when he saw a familiar green face with it's kind eyes looking at him with love.

"M'gann?"

M'gann smiled with relief. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He looked so handsome, with his bare chest shining in the light, and his chiseled features adorned with red war paint that brought out his sparkling blue eyes that were blinking back tears. "Conner, are you okay?" He put his hands over hers. "I am now…"

He shook his head. "I can't believe it…you came for me…" M'gann nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, Conner…I was so afraid I was going to lose you…" He cupped her cheeks as put her hands down, using his thumbs to wipe her tears away. "Ssssssshhh…its okay. You didn't lose me. I'm right here…I'm not going anywhere." Slowly, he leaned towards her, bringing her face closer to his as their eyes closed.

As the incense fog cleared, Lora coughed and gagged for air. Then she saw Conner and M'gann at the end of the aisle, their lips mere inches apart. "YOU!", she roared, getting their attention. Conner brought himself and M'gann to their feet, wrapping her arms around her protectively.

At that moment, the doors behind them exploded open, causing all the guests to scream. When the smoke cleared, there stood the Team. Chris and Katie ran to their brother's side. "Conner, its all a lie!" "What is?" "Every word that came out of those bloated lips!", Katie cried, pointing at Lora, whose hands flew to her mouth, insulted.

"She's been secretly working with Vandal Savage and the Light!", Chris proclaimed. "They wanted you to marry her so that she could kill you after the wedding!" Conner looked at them with shock and horror as the others ran to his side. They had cuts and bruises on their faces and arms, but all in all, they were ready for battle.

Conner took a step forward, looking at Lora with his eyes narrowed into slits. He pried the golden band off his forehead, ripped his sash away, and wiped the war paint from his cheeks. Lora didn't look the least bit intimidated. She simply snapped her fingers, and who should blow up the walls and come to her side but Deathstroke and an army of robots programmed to fight the Team.

Conner only got into position, crouching low, his hands curled into fists, determination in his eyes. Nightwing stepped up to his side, pulling his bo staff from behind his back. "TEAM, GO!"


	18. Fire Within

At the sight of danger, the wedding guests ran out of the Temple of Zolara so they could escape this place of insanity. Even the monks and the High Priest scrambled to get out of the line of fire. Eyes glowed, animals roared, and feet made earthquakes as they stomped all over the ground

Conner and Nightwing fought off the army of evil robots side by side. Even though he did not have his superpowers under Krypton's red sun, he stilled had the fighting skills that he had been taught by Black Canary and honed through years of training. He smiled at her as he bashed in the head of an android. "You guys do still care!"

"Of course we do!", Nightwing said, delivering a scissor kick right to a robo noggin. "You're our friend, Conner! We weren't about to stand by and let you marry that evil witch!" Deathstroke charged at Conner. "I got your back!" He flipped over Conner's head, and his foot met with Deathstroke's face.

M'gann flew over the army, making robotic heads explode with her telekinesis. Her eyes glanced at Conner, kicking robotic butt, and smiled happily. Just then, she looked around and noticed something. Lora was nowhere to be seen.

She levitated down to look for Conner's former fiancé. What happened next went by so fast, no one noticed until it was too late. From the shadows behind her, two pale, slender arms reached over and slapped an inhibitor collar around M'gann's neck. She screamed in agony as she was zapped with a thousand bolts of electricity. And everything went black.

Conner had just finished breaking enough robots when he looked around, just in time to see Lora standing a few meters away. Her makeup was all wiped off, the skirt of her wedding gown torn off to her knees, her brown hair undone, crystals falling to the floor, and her gloves gone.

Clutched tightly in her hand was a piece of M'gann's cape—with M'gann still attached to it. Smirking wickedly, she snapped her fingers, and a thick white fog surrounded them both.

"M'gann!" Conner ran through the fog, searching frantically for her and Lora, but as the steamy smog cleared, neither alien girl was anywhere to be seen. A panicking Conner got Nightwing's attention. "She got M'gann!"

* * *

When M'gann opened her eyes, she found herself being dragged up the stairs leading to the highest room in the tallest tower of the Temple of Zolara. She turned her head around to see that she was in the clutches of Conner's evil young lady bride. She tried to break free, but found herself unable to, due to the inhibitor collar around her neck, restraining her telekinesis and shapeshifting abilities.

Lora threw the Martian into a corner, laughing wickedly. All around them, the Temple bells sat, waiting to be run to signal the start of an event. M'gann ignored the pain in her ribs and sat up to glare at Lora with rage in her heart. "Why?!", she cried. "Why would you team up with Vandal Savage?! Why would you try to kill Conner?! What has he ever done to you to deserve that?! How could you be so _heartless_?!"

Lora shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, in a way that was so casual and careless, it made M'gann even angrier. "It was actually quite easy, after Savage offered me power and riches beyond my wildest dreams. After all, a girl's gotta make sacrifices if she's going to be Queen of Krypton."

M'gann growled in response. Lora leaned towards her. "Awww…is da widdle Martian jeawous 'cause I stole her man?", she said in baby talk, mocking her enemy. She smirked as she stood up straight, reached into her dress, and pulled out a small remote control. "Maybe _this_ will put you back in line!" She pressed a button, and M'gann felt something go off in her collar.

Suddenly, she felt strange all over, like she was weakening. Lora's smile became wider and wickeder. "Oh, need a visual?" She picked up a shattered piece of the two-way mirroring used for windows in the Temple and held it out in front of M'gann's face, smirking with malicious glee seeing her gasp in horror.

M'gann's complexion had changed from a grassy green to a stark white, her eyes a piercing red, her teeth becoming fanged and pointed, her hair shrinking away. She was changing into a White Martian. "NO!" She tried to crawl away, but Lora grabbed her on the back of her head and forced her to gaze upon her own reflection as wrinkles formed on her face, transforming her.

"Look at this.", Lora snapped. " _Look at this._ I know I can't! Such _horrible_ , _grotesque_ features! Do you _really_ believe that Kon-El would _ever_ love such a _hideous_ , _ugly_ _monster_?! If you do, you need to be checked somewhere in the head!" She threw her head back in wicked laughter as M'gann buried her face in her now long white hands, tears rolling down her cheeks, unable to look as her appearance went from bad to worse. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Conner stood before them, his lips curled into a sneer, his hands balled into fists, determination piercing through Lora, furious at her, not just for making out of him and his family, not just for plotting against him and his friends, but for using M'gann worst fear and insecurity against her. He stormed over, his footsteps shaking the floor, and pulled Lora away from the crying girl, her sobs becoming louder and louder.

"How DARE you!", he roared at Lora. "M'gann is anything BUT ugly! She's beautiful and good and honest, which is more than I can say for YOU!" Lora scoffed, "Beautiful? Kon, _look_ at her! That rough, bleak skin! Those beady red eyes! That pointed yellow teeth!" She brushed his short black bangs across his forehead, smiling at him seductively. "You can do _so_ much better."

He smacked her hand away, bearing his teeth. "You are wrong, Lora. I couldn't do better than M'gann, even if I tried. She has a few flaws, but it is those very flaws that make her perfect in my eyes. She is the first person who ever looked at me, who really saw me, the true me, who I really am. Even if her love for me fades, mine for her will last until the end of time."

His eyes pierced into hers, glaring into her blackened soul. "She is the most beautiful girl, on this planet or the next. You, Lora-Kad-Zol, on the other hand, are the ugliest creature I have ever met." Lora's mouth fell open in shock before Conner picked her up and threw her against the wall, knocking her unconscious.

"Conner…" At the sound of her voice, he ran to M'gann's side, gently picking her up, her now in her full White Martian form, cradling her in his arms. "Its okay…I'll get you out of here." He turned his head towards Lora, who was struggling to get up. "Its over. You lose." And with those words spoken, he ran out of the tower to save M'gann, leaving his ex-bride to face the crumbling walls and ceilings alone.


	19. Reconciliation

M'gann opened her eyes groggily, her vision blurred. She was lying on something soft and breathable. As she sat up, her vision cleared, and she saw that she was inside of a blank white room, sitting on a white cloth mattress stuffed with hay and rolls of wool and cotton. She wore a plain white dressing gown and no shoes, and her hair had bee arranged into a long red braid down her back.

She looked down at her hands and saw that they were still stark white. She leaned over and looked at the plain square mirror hanging next to her bed. She looked just like she normally did, except that her skin was still a blinding white shade. Just then, she heard a soft, deep groan from next to her.

Conner lay his head on the end of her bed, fast asleep, he was still shirtless, but his wedding clothes were gone, replaced with short white briefs. The red ink that had been painted onto his face and chest had been scrubbed away, and his hair, which had been combed and styled to perfection, was now messy and wild.

M'gann reached over and gently stroked his black locks, now shorter thanks to his previous haircut. The feeling of her fingers brushing against his scalp stirred him awake. He sat up and looked up at her, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth. "You're awake! I was afraid you'd never wake up!"

M'gann bit her lip. "How long have I been asleep?" "Three days." She sat up straighter, eyes wide. "Three days?! Where's the Team?! And what happened to Lora?!" Conner put his hands on her shoulder to calm her. "Its okay. The Team is fine. Chris and Katie are giving them a tour of the village. Lora was banished from Krypton and taken by the Green Lanterns for treason and attempted murder."

He smiled at her. "Its over, M'gann. We won. You guys did it. You saved me from marrying that evil, evil woman." He cupped both sides of her face with his strong yet gentle hands. She smiled at him and buried her face in his left palm, blinking back tears. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?", he asked. "You stopped the wedding and rescued me from Lora's clutches." "But you never would've been anywhere near her clutches if it hadn't been for me!", M'gann sobbed.

"I pushed you away. I took advantage of you. If I hadn't invaded your mind in the first place, we would've never broken up, and I wouldn't have driven you into her arms. It was wrong of me, Conner, to try to make you forget. And only now, after nearly losing you, did I realize how just wrong it was. I hurt you. I hurt both of us." Conner shook his head, asking her the question he'd held inside for so long. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"Because I was afraid of losing you.", she said. She rolled her shoulders back. "But that sure blew up in my face, didn't it? I ended being the reason you left, the reason you agreed to marry Lora." "I agreed to marry her because I thought you didn't want me anymore.", Conner said. "But…if that was true, than you never would've come for me, wouldn't you?"

She hung her head, her eyes swimming with tears. "Conner…I've made so many mistakes…but I could never bear to let you marry somebody else. Not without saying I'm sorry. But I understand if you can't forgive me for what for what I did to you. I wouldn't forgive me either. What I did was unacceptable, and its all my fault that you almost died at Lora's hands."

She shut her eyes, tight, expecting Conner to just walk away and leave her alone, just like he had all those months ago. She deserved it. She expected it. Instead, she felt his hands wrap around her fingers. She opened her eyes to see him smiling back at her. He opened his mouth and whispered, "I forgive you, M'gann."

Her reddened eyes widened. "What?", she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "You..but why? Why do you forgive me? I'm a horrible person…I soiled the touch in your mind…I don't deserve to be forgiven."

Tears ran down her pale cheeks, faster and faster, only stopping when Conner pulled her closer, forcing her to look into his eyes. "M'gann, you saved my life.", he said. "If you hadn't crashed the ceremony, I would've said I do and married the most horrible woman that ever lived, a woman who wanted to kill me…a woman I didn't love. You refused to let her take advantage of me. You proved that you learned your lesson and that you _do_ care about me."

M'gann shook her head. "But…But it was my fault that you were in that situation on the first place." Conner stroked her hair lovingly. "That's where your wrong, M'gann.", he saide. "The wedding was not your fault in any way. _I'm_ the one who agreed to marry Lora, even though I'd just met her. _I'm_ the one who didn't have the guts to tell anyone how I really felt about the betrothal. _I'm_ the one who dragged us all into this mess."

He looked down at his knees, feeling guilty. "I guess I was just using this whole marriage as an excuse to run away from my problems. You can be sorry about your powers, but you can't be sorry about this _I'm_ the one who should be sorry about the wedding incident, M'gann. Not you."

He looked back at her, his piercing baby blue orbs capturing her sweet honey-tone ones. "But there is one thing that I'll never be sorry for, ever—I love you, M'gann M'orrz. I always have and I always will, no matter what happens."

She looked at him, more tears threatening to burst forth, only this time, they were tears of joy. "I love you, too, Kon-El. And that will never change either."

Picking up where they last left off in the Temple of Zolara, they both leaned in at the same time, his hands cupping both her cheeks, and their lips met in a loving kiss. Feelings that had been held in for months were poured out as he put his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. She held his head in her hands, running her fingers through his dark black hair.

It was the greatest moment that any of them had experienced in six months of separation, and nothing could ruin it for them. M'gann smiled against his mouth as she felt her mind meld with Conner's once more. Their connection had been restored, and nothing was going to break it ever again.


	20. Epilogue

Conner fiddled with his golden belt. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. It had been a year since M'gann had proved him wrong, that she really did love him, by traveling to Krypton to stop him from marrying the evil seductress Lora-Kad-Zol. Now it was time to start the next chapter in their lives.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the two-way mirrored window next to him in the Temple of Zolara. He wore the same uniform that he had donned the day of his almost wedding—same gold-lined, deep red pants, same golden sandals, same bare chest. But he had no red gem in his belt this time, no golden sash over his shoulder, and no war paint on the skin of his torso. He still had two streaks of red painted onto each cheek, shorter golden arm bands, and a plain gold band circling his forehead, only his hair had just been combed nicely instead if styled and soaked with hair gel. He felt more like himself in this uniform, and not like some stepford smiler.

Standing next to him, in the following order, were Kaldur, Dick, Wally, Mal and Chris. All five wore matching red pants just like the ones Conner wore, complete with the same sandals and headbands, and open gold vests that showed off their arms and bare chests. Every time Conner looked at them with a nervous expression, they gave him a thumbs-up, reassuring him.

Walking down the aisle to the music, in order, were Artemis, Zatanna, Raquel, Karen and Katie. They all wore matching gowns of sea green, decorated with swirls of silver to match the silver that lined their semi-sweetheart necklines and the hems of their gowns that fell past their feet. They wore silver bands around their foreheads, silver chains with sea green Kryptonite pendants, and silver gloves that reached just above their elbows. Each carried a bouquet of emerald green flowers as they lined up next to the altar. The music got louder, and Conner knew what was coming next.

The wooden double doors slowly opened to reveal two people standing behind it. One was a tall, middle-aged Martian man wearing the X of the Martian Manhunter. His brow stuck out like he was angry, but his smile said otherwise as he looked at the lady he was escorting down the aisle.

She wore a beautiful white gown the reached past her feet and spilled onto the floor behind her, making a train. The deep V-neckline and the hem of her skirt were both lined in shining silver, and a matching silver sash was tied tightly around her waist. She wore long, elegant silver gloves on her arms, and a silver choker encircled her throat, with a white Kryptonite gem in the center. Her deep red hair fell loosely past her shoulders in soft curls, with a silver headband around her head that sparkled in the moonlight, with a white flower and white silk ribbons pinned in the back, nestled in her tresses. Her lips were painted a deep scarlet red, her eyelids glimmered in white-silver, and her lashes had been curled and painted black, all colors standing out against her smooth green skin.

The Kryptonian guests that had gathered for the ceremony were in awe. They knew this young lady as one of the heroes who had rescued one of their own from a gruesome fate. None of them had ever imagined that she would clean up so nicely. She was, in a word, stunning. The groom found himself unable to take his eyes off her, even for a second, as she walked down the aisle towards him.

At last, she and the Martian man, her own uncle, reached the altar. He kissed his beloved niece on the forehead before going to sit among his peers in the stands.

Conner took her gloved hand in his and looked into her sparkling caramel eyes, his own shimmering with love within the pale blue hues. "You look so beautiful." She smiled back at him, trying hard not to cry. "Thank you. So do you." He bent his arm just so. "Ready?" She folded her right hand over it. "Ready."

They both faced the High Priest, who turned to address the audience. That night, under the soft light of the moon and the stars, Kon-El of Krypton and M'gann M'orrz of Mars were married.

 **And that's the end! To all those who have been following this story, thank you so much for all your support. Love you all! I do not own YJ or DC.**


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